The Lightning Rider
by Epic Dragon Trainer
Summary: Two months after the end of the war, the village is at peace with the dragons. Suddenly a trader comes with a skrill following close on his tail. Jolt, the trader's son, strives to become a dragon trainer, but none of the dragons seem to fit him. He then comes across the skrill, changing both of their lives forever.
1. The Arrival

Chapter 1: The Arrival

The occasion of having a trader come to Berk was a special occasion. Traders only came about once every month or so, and brought so many supplies and cool nick-knacks for everyone. One of the best and most revered trader was Trader Johann. He came around every two months, and brought everything from fabric and paper to swords and chests. The only trader more famous and revered than Johann was Trader Kyle, who came around every two months, every month that Trader Johann didn't come so as to both get equal trading rights.

Trader Kyle was so popular because he brought the largest selection of items to trade, and was usually very accommodating of people's needs. He was a favorite with the children because he was fond of handing out free sweets to them from the far distant lands he always traveled to. He also happened to be Hiccup's favorite trader, mostly because he liked and admired Hiccup's inventions and brought Hiccup many much needed tools.

Trader Kyle was supposed to come the next day, and everyone in the village was getting excited, gathering up their provisions and stocking up for trading. Everyone was in a flurry of activity, trying to get the village presentable for the Trader. Appearance was everything, since most of the news the other islands got about Berk came from the traders.

Hiccup was slightly worried, as this was the first time Kyle was coming that dragons were on Berk. Kyle had just visited when the war just ended, and it had been two months since then. He hadn't seen that Berk had made peace with the dragons, so Hiccup wondered how he'd react. One look at Toothless though, who was sitting right next to him chowing down on some fish, that made all of his worries fly away. He smiled. How could anyone hate dragons when they were so awesome like Toothless.

"You want to go for a fly bud?" he asked.

Toothless nodded excitedly, gobbling down the last of his fish. He leaned down, allowing Hiccup to jump onto his back. Hiccup clipped in his fake leg to the pedal, and they were off.

Flying never got old for Hiccup. It was the most exhilarating thing, being able to fly above the clouds, the wind whipping through his hair, completely oblivious to all of his other problems. He was able to be free, to go wherever he wanted to go. He reached down and patted Toothless on the neck.

"I'm glad we're such good friends bud."

Toothless looked up and looked at Hiccup with those big, round green eyes. Hiccup could tell that Toothless felt the same way. He wanted to be able to talk to Toothless, to be able to hear his side of their relationship, but they already kind of could. Just through a look, they could convey such a strong emotion and message. They both knew how to read each others body language and mannerisms, and their relationship was one of understanding. Hiccup loved it.

"Well, bud, I think we need to head back for dragon training," said Hiccup, looking up at the sun and seeing that it was about two o'clock.

Toothless grunted, obviously upset that they had to cut their flying short. Hiccup caught on to his meaning. " I know, I don't want to either, but we've got to lead that group or they'll never get anything done," said Hiccup.

They flew over to the former killing arena, now the Berk Dragon Training Academy. The others were already there, Snotlout with Hookfang, Astrid with Stormfly, Fishlegs with Meatlug, and Ruffnut and Tuffnut with Barf and Belch. Gobber was also there, trying to get the class started, but he was having a hard time of it.

I walked in, and the entire class got quiet. "Finally Hiccup. Where were you? I've been trying to get these kids to cooperate, but they won't listen to me," said Gobber frustrated. "Especially Ruff and Tuff. They seemed to find it amusing to chase each other around the ring with axes until one of them ended up dead, until I pulled them apart."

No that Hiccup looked, he did notice that Ruffnut and Tuffnut were standing on opposite sides of the group, being held back by the others. Hiccup sighed. What was he going to do with them? Toothless caught his drift and grunted. Hiccup looked at him and they both did another sigh. "Would you?" Hiccup asked.

Toothless obliged, roaring a roar that made everyone shut up fast. "Thank you Toothless. Now today we're going be doing some target practice with the dragons. Gobber, if you could get out the targets would you?" Hiccup asked, gesturing to the pile of target Hiccup had organized before.

Everyone got onto their dragons and prepared for the exercise. Gobber stood on the other arena holding the targets. At random times, he would throw up a target and shout a teenagers name. They then had to get their dragon to blast it before it hit the ground. It was a fun exercise, and it started to get competitive. We started to keep a tally of the dragons with the most hits. Hiccup and Toothless, being the most coordinated, won the competition.

"Alright, gang, good work. No training tomorrow, what with Trader Kyle coming and all, but I expect you all here the day after. See you guys later," said Hiccup, and the others departed. Astrid stayed, following Hiccup out of the arena. Gobber smiled at the two. They had really taken to each other, and had really started to become a solid couple. He felt happy for them, and he was wondering how their relationship would pan out.

Astrid and Hiccup flew off on their dragons and raced to their usual rendezvous point, Shadow Island. It was called Shadow Island because it was the island that happened to always be in the shadow of Berk, giving it the apt name. Hiccup and Astrid met there often to just hang out and have fun, but mostly because they just liked to be together. Their relationship had certainly become much more concrete since the end of the war. Sure, Hiccup was still worked at the blacksmith, and Astrid was still, well, Astrid, but they found ways to like each other and to grow closer to each other.

They explored the island a little, as most of it was unknown, but after a while they just sat on the bank looking out into the ocean. They didn't say much for a while, just stared into the expanse of ocean before them.

Astrid's face suddenly looked concerned. I followed her gaze and saw why. A huge storm was moving in, advancing at an amazing rate of speed. I saw lightning flashes among its dark clouds.

"We should probably get going home. We don't want to be stuck here when that storm hits," said Hiccup.

They got on their dragons and flew back to the mainland. As they were flying, Hiccup spotted a boat in the distance. He recognized the pattern on the sail, two hands shaking in agreement, that signified a trader. Was it Trader Kyle? He wasn't expected for another day? Hiccup caught his breath as he saw the storm start to overtake the boat. The boat listed sharply, threatening to overturn. Hiccup urged Toothless on toward the storm, chasing after the boat in the distance. He yelled over to Astrid over the thunder.

"It's Trader Kyle! We've got to help him!"

Astrid nodded in acknowledgment, and urged Stormfly on after Hiccup. The storm was advancing faster now, as if it was being spurred on by the gods themselves. When they got withing sight of the boat, they saw that Trader Kyle and his son Jolt were standing on the deck, scanning the skies and waving their swords, as if fighting off some unknown being. Toothless flew next to the boat and hovered easily. They now saw that the boat was taking on water at an alarming speed. As much as the traders bailed, there was no hope for the boat.

"Quick, get everyone and hop on the dragons!" yelled Hiccup, previously unseen in the dark on Toothless.

The traders recoiled in shock, but got over it when they saw Hiccup. Jolt ran below and came up with his mother, two sisters, and his brother. It looked like they had brought the whole gang for the trip this time. Hiccup wondered why. There was a lot of people, so each teen took three, the boys with Hiccup and the girls with Astrid. The dragons struggled against the storm, but managed to get out its grasp.

Toothless reached the beach and deposited his passengers. That's when they all heard it. A screech so piercing it could only have been made by one thing and one thing only. A skrill. Before Hiccup could stop him, Toothless flew up and raced into the storm. It was dark in the storm, and Hiccup couldn't see anything through the driving rain. He tried to steer Toothless out of it, but he just managed to get himself more lost. A lightning strike close by illuminated the sky for an instant.

Hiccup saw the skrill, seeming to be part of the storm itself, a vivid blue/white coloring, throwing off lightning bolts like Thor himself. It shot a bolt at Toothless, who shot a plasma bolt right back. Both managed to dodge the strikes, but Toothless followed up with one faster and managed a hit. The skrill fell from the sky and landed somewhere near Raven Point.

Toothless seemed satisfied and raced out of the storm, landing on the beach, which was now empty. They raced to the main hall and took shelter from the storm. They found Trader Kyle and his family there, looking thoroughly bewildered. They kept looking at the dragons and then back to the vikings, rubbing their eyes, not wanting to believe that it was true.

"Well friends, this is a most unfortunate way to greet our favorite traders, but welcome to Berk," said Stoick.

"Thank you Stoick, pardon me for asking, but what is...this..." Trader Kyle said, trying to find the right words, while gesturing to Toothless and Hiccup, the most dominating dragon/human pairing in the room. Stoick sighed.

"We made peace with the dragons here on Berk, thanks to Hiccup. We now ride them and treat them as friends," said Stoick by way of explanation.

Trader Kyle looked genuinely surprised, looking at Hiccup in a strange new way. "Well, Hiccup, you finally amounted to something," he said laughing.

Everyone shared a good laugh. Soon enough, Trader Kyle was swept away by the children (and Gobber) who were eager to fill Trader Kyle in on the full story, which Hiccup highly doubted was even half true. It was a said truth to viking nature, tended to over exaggerate everything.

Hiccup walked over to where Jolt was standing aloof from the rest. Jolt grinned. They had become good friends over the years, even when they only saw each other for one week stretches every two months. They happened to share many similar traits, including a love of inventing and a feeling of being a misfit. Toothless bounded up to him and proceeded to lick Jolt's face all over. When he was finally able to get a breath from under the dragon drool, he faced Hiccup with an amused light in his eyes.

"I guess you're not so misfit anymore," he said laughing.

"Why does everyone think that that is so funny?" asked Hiccup.

"Because you're the last person people would think of when they think of a popular viking. The image just doesn't work."

"Well when you have a dragon like Toothless, it gets pretty hard not to be the center of attention," Hiccup said jokingly. "Yeah, I get the coolest job now. I get to train dragons."

Jolt's eyes lit up. "That sounds like the coolest job ever! We'll be staying here for a while, so do you think I would be able to help you train dragons?" he asked eagerly.

"Sure, I don't see why not. We've just got to get you a dragon that would fit your personality. They seem to bond better with the rider that way. But we'll do that tomorrow. Come on, you're staying with us until you get your boat fixed."

They walked outside. The storm had stopped and the sky was clear. "Man, fast storm huh," mused Hiccup.

"Yeah, it really jumped out of nowhere and overtook us. We never saw it coming. That combined with fighting off the skrill, it wasn't a fun time."

"Why was the skrill attacking you?"

"No idea."

They continued to chat, Hiccup filling in Jolt on the events since he was last here, and Jolt filling Hiccup in on what was currently happening in his life.

"We actually were just leaving our home base to restock and were on our way here when we saw the pirates. They attacked the village and we had to run as fast as we could. We had heard rumors of the pirates coming, so we grabbed the whole family, ma, Evan, Ally, and Megan along with me and pa. We were almost shot out of the water by a massive...thing. It was a metal tube, really long, and it spat metal balls and fire that almost tore a hole in our ship. I've never seen anything like it," said Jolt.

"I'm sorry for you man. I wish that never happened."

"Yeah, well, we'll probably stay here. There's nothing left for us. Our home is destroyed, along with our ship. We have the family together, and I want to keep it that way. I'm going to ask pa if we can stay tomorrow. I also really want to getting to dragon training," he said eagerly.

Toothless gave Hiccup a look. Hiccup saw what he was trying to say. He was eager, and he would probably make a great dragon trainer. They would see in the morning.

The trio got to Hiccup's house and ran up to his room. Toothless followed them up, which Jolt thought was strange until he saw Toothless curl up on his stone slab, looking right at home there. Hiccup got out a spare bedroll and laid it next to his bed for Jolt. While he was doing that, Jolt took a look around the room. It was plastered with so many pictures of dragons and design, mostly Toothless, but there were others. There were schematics for hundreds of inventions and ideas. Jolt felt jealous. He had never had a room to himself before, a place where he could put all of his ideas, or design his own way. He just had a bunk on his fathers trading ship, and his only decorations were the sketchbook he kept and his helmet.

"You're drawings are amazing," he mused to Hiccup.

"You like them? Maybe I'll make one for you when you get your own dragon."

"That would be cool," said Jolt, sounding very dreamy.

Hiccup yawned. "Well, let's tuck in for the night. Big day tomorrow."

They settled in for the night, anticipating the next day.


	2. Choosing a Dragon

**I'm sorry if anyone was confused in the last chapter, because some first person pronouns worked their way into my third person story. Sorry for the confusion.**

Chapter 2: Choosing a Dragon

Hiccup woke up to the familiar sound of Toothless jumping on the roof. It was his usual way of telling Hiccup to get up and go flying with him. He woke up Jolt on his way out the door.

"Come on Jolt. I want to show you something."

"This early in the morning? Give me five more minutes," said Jolt, rolling over.

"You're missing out man. Come on, just get up and let me show you what its like to fly."

When Hiccup mentioned flying, Jolt sprang out of bed, pulling on his boots and vest, throwing on his helmet as he ran out the door. Hiccup had to laugh at that. He was certainly eager. In fact, he was so eager that Hiccup wondered how he was even able to try to sleep. He was going to make a great dragon trainer.

Hiccup walked out and saw Jolt scratching Toothless all over. Toothless was purring with pleasure, so he walked over and joined in. Jolt then hit Toothless's sensitive spot, and he collapsed onto the ground, purring again.

"Great, now we've got to wait until he comes around again," said Hiccup laughing.

"How did I do that? And how long does it usually last," asked Jolt.

"Toothless, like most dragons but not all, have a sensitive spot under their chin. Being scratched there knocks them out for a good five, maybe six minutes. They love it, and it's a great way to subdue them."

"Wow, I mean, you've really gotten some great tips for handling dragons."

"Yeah, well, when you happen to make friends with a night fury, you kind of learn a thing or two."

"True, true. Oh look, he's coming around," said Jolt, sounding excited.

"You ready bud. We're just gonna go for a nice easy flight, show Jolt the ropes a little. Sound good?" Hiccup asked.

Toothless nodded eagerly, leaning down to allow them to get on.

"Wait, can he...understand you?" asked Jolt, amazed.

"Well, yes and no. We have an understanding of what the other is trying to say, but we can't actually talk to each other. A little annoying, but we communicate well enough."

"Cool. Let's go!"

They hopped on Toothless and took off. Jolt screamed like a little girl at first, surprised at the speed and agility of the pitch black dragon. Eventually, he got used to it and began to enjoy it. In fact, he felt like he could stay up there forever. It was an exhilarating feeling, like he was free to be alive and not feel burdened down by his problems. He noticed Hiccup shift his fake leg on the pedal.

"What's that for?" Jolt asked over the sound of the wind.

"Have you seriously not noticed that he's missing half of his tail?!"

Jolt looked back and saw that it was true. One of his tail fins was natural, the same black color as the rest of his body. The other though, was red with a skull on it. As Hiccup shifted his foot on the petal, the tail fin opened or closed more, moving Toothless in certain directions.

"How on earth did you design this thing?"

"With a lot of time and prototypes," Hiccup replied.

"You are a genius you know that."

"So are you. Or have you forgotten the egg frying machine competition?"

Jolt had to laugh at that. On one visit to Berk, Hiccup had challenged him to a battle of wits, who could create the best machine that could fry the most delicious egg. Jolt created a genius contraption, with the perfect gear ratios to ensure proper cooking time, auto ingredient adders, and even an automated server. They came out perfect almost every time, and he had gotten a killer profit for it when he sold it to the Berk kitchens for use for breakfast, where it was still employed. Hiccup's invention, though good too, ended up almost setting fire to the workshop after it released a flaming egg through the air and into the wall. It was a long standing joke between them that never got old.

"Point taken, but still, you trained a dragon for Thor's sake. You're the only one I know stupid enough to do that."

Hiccup laughed. "I know what you mean. I'm the least likely person to, like, change the world. But now, if I hadn't, I would have never met Toothless and we never would have become such great friends. We rarely go anywhere without each other, partially because he can't fly without me, but mostly because we just...I don't know, understand each other and we are just...such great friends."

Jolt raised his eyebrows. This was coming from the same kid who, just a few months ago, would have given anything to take down a dragon. Now though, he's a dragon's best friend, and he's not the same without him. Funny how time works like that.

After a while they landed by the great hall and stopped in for breakfast. Hiccup made sure that Toothless was fed first before they ate. They sat at the same table as the other teens in the village. Hiccup introduced me to everyone, and I could tell that they were all close friends. We ate breakfast, and then proceeded to fly to the training arena. Hiccup changed his previous cancellation for that day's training, since Trader Kyle had kind of already landed on Berk.

The other trainers brought out their dragons so I could see what kind of dragon I would want. I went to each one in turn, getting a feel for the personality of each dragon. The monstrous nightmare was too pompous, and too quick tempered. The nadder was was too self centered. The zippleback had too many heads. The groncle was too bulky and slow. He looked back to Hiccup.

"You don't happen to have any other night furies do you. He seems to be the only one even remotely close to my personality," asked Jolt.

Hiccup shook his head. "I've never seen another night fury. But don't worry, there are plenty of other species. We just need to find the one that's right for you."

"Well that's just great. I can't be a dragon trainer without a dragon," Jolt said, sounding depressed.

"Don't worry, we'll find one for you. For some people it just takes time," Astrid said reassuringly.

Jolt stayed around for training, taking notes on certain tips that were shared. He got a little bored, so he turned to the Book of Dragons that Fishlegs had brought with him to study. If there was a dragon that fit him, it would be in there. As he looked though, it seemed like only one class of dragon stuck with him. The strike class. A class of dragons characterized by extreme intelligence, speed, and stealth. That sounded like an apt description of how Jolt was. He looked around the section.

Not many of the dragon in the strike class particularly appealed to him, besides the night fury of course. Then he got to the skrill, a reclusive dragon found only during electrical storms that shot white fire. It could ride lightning bolts and was also pretty smart. Jolt flashed back to when he first sighted the skrill in the midst of that storm. It was truly beautiful, besides the fact that it was trying to kill them. It flashed around like lightning, flitting about and causing the sky to light up with the power of its radiance. It wasn't the first time too. That dragon had plagued him and his father for years, coming and going but never doing any real damage, except for when it had...

No, Jolt thought, nothing he would do could reverse that now. He didn't want to even think about the horror from six years ago. He was fifteen now, so he was nine when it happened. The skrill had attacked Trader Kyle's ship while they were out trading. Trader Kyle had taken his wife along for the trip, to show her around the islands. The skrill's strike had struck Trader Kyle's wife, Jolt's mother, killing her instantly. Trader Kyle wept for days, but nothing could ease the pain. He remarried, who gave him the rest of Jolt's siblings. It was a sad story, but he still believed that the skrill was the dragon for him, horrible back story or not.

When training ended, Jolt approached Hiccup. "Hey, I was just taking a look through the Book of Dragons trying to find a dragon for me, and I think I found one."

"Great! Which one?"

"The skrill. Know where I can find one?"

Hiccup's face went pasty white. Jolt was afraid that what he had said had hurt him in some way.

"What? What's wrong?" asked Jolt concerned.

Hiccup shook himself out of his trance. "I don't think they're trainable. That and I have no idea where you'd find one. They're vicious beasts, according to the book."

"So were night furies, but you obviously proved that wrong."

Hiccup sighed. "If you find one, you can try, just be wary. The lightning of a skrill has been known to change people's minds, driving most mad. Just be careful."

"Duly noted. I'm going for a walk in the woods," said Jolt.

"Alright, but again, be cautious, there's plenty of wild dragons out there who would gladly rip your head off. If you get in trouble, try to get their trust and train them. We could always use more dragons, and I'm sure you caught on to a few tricks," Hiccup said winking.

Apparently Hiccup didn't remember that Toothless had downed a skrill in the storm. Jolt had watched it land near Raven Point. Raven Point wasn't that far from the arena, at least not by dragon. Going by foot took a little longer than he had anticipated. He reached Raven Point and took a look around. Nothing seemed to indicate that the skrill had been there. He swore that he had seen it go down there, so it must be there. He looked and looked, but there was nothing. Just as he was about to leave, he noticed a tree that looked look it had been struck by lightning and toppled over. He saw that the lightning struck tree was not the only one. There was a trail of them leading north. He followed them, and they lead him to the skrill.

It was lying on the ground, looking to be in pain. It was a beautiful blue/white color, with purple/blue highlights. It had sharp spikes up and down its back as well as on its tail. It had a head similar to that of the nadder. It had a fluidity to it that was just breathtaking. Its skin was sparking, as if it were made of pure lightning. Jolt approached the dragon carefully, trying not to frighten it. It was obviously a male, that much he could tell. He could also tell that it was awake, and staring right at me.

Jolt gasped, backing up when he saw the skrill's eyes. They were a brilliant blue, an electric blue that looked like the color of lightning. A color blue that seemed to dance like it was alive. The same nature and color as Jolt's.

He approached the skill with his hand out, trying to act trustworthy. His hair started to stick up as he got closer. The skrill worked its way to its feet and backed away screeching. He got within a few feet of the dragon when a lightning bolt shot from its side and dashed toward him. He screamed, expecting a shock, but none came. Instead, the bolt struck the knife that he had on him at all times, a gift from his father. He took the knife and threw it away, with intent to retrieve it later.

He tried to approach the dragon again, and this time he didn't get shocked. The skrill seemed to not feel threatened ever since Jolt threw the knife away. He eventually got close enough to touch the skrill. As soon as they connected, Jolt felt a buzz of energy that seemed to flow right through his body, from his head to his toes. The skrill seemed to calm down after Jolt touched him, even trying to get closer to Jolt. Jolt started scratching him all over, like he had Toothless. The skrill loved it, and started whining with pleasure. He started to spark and flash with lightning, shocking Jolt slightly.

"I think that's what I'll call you. Spark."

As soon as he said the name, he loved it. Apparently, so did Spark, because he started to get really excited. Then he stopped and doubled over. Spark looked like he was going to pass out from the pain. He noticed that Spark had a huge wound on his side caused from several large scratches that appeared like they came from his rough fall. The blast Toothless gave him didn't seem to have any effect, but that made sense as dragons are fireproof, but it had been powerful enough to knock him out of the sky.

"We've got to get you to the village. Those wounds are pretty serious."

He lead Spark in the direction of the village, grabbing his knife on the way out. Spark followed at his heels like a dog. It was slow going, but they eventually got back to the village. When they walked into the village, everyone stopped and stared. Some even panicked and ran away screaming. Spark started sparking again, but Jolt calmed him down with a gentle pat and a whisper of soothing words. Hiccup ran up to Jolt.

"Hey you're back. I was wondering where..." he stopped short, noticing the electric dragon standing right next to me. "What is that doing here?"

"What, Spark. Yeah I found him. He's gonna be my dragon," Jolt said. Everyone just stared back. Apparently it was not normal to have a skrill for a dragon. As Hiccup said, no skrill had ever been trained. "He is pretty hurt, so if there's like a dragon doctor or something, that would be great."

Hiccup snapped out of his trance and looked at Spark, keeping his distance, as if he were afraid of the dragon. When he got closer, his hair started to stand on end too. "It doesn't look like there's anything wrong with him. I don't know what you're talking about."

Jolt looked back at Spark. The massive scratches that had been there previously had vanished, leaving pristine scales in its place. He looked perfectly fine, as if he hadn't just fallen from the sky and rolled through a forest of trees.

"That's...not possible. He was all scraped up and really injured. I'd swear by the gods! How is this possible?" asked Jolt, puzzled.

Hiccup glanced around at the other villagers, who were still staring. "Let's take him to the arena, away from all these prying eyes. I don' like it, and I don't think Spark does either."

He made a shooing motion to the villagers and they all went about their business, but they constantly glanced over at the dragon.

Hiccup and Jolt brought Spark to the training arena, where Hiccup was able to better study the electric dragon. Jolt stood by him, calming him down with soothing words and gentle patting. Every time Jolt touched Spark, he felt the same buzz of energy, as if pure lightning was racing through him. It gave him energy and excitement.

"Well, I must say, I've never quite got a good look at one of these dragons. They're quite spectacular. I wonder what kind of abilities he has," mused Hiccup thoughtfully.

"Well we won't find out until I can ride it. I'll go to the shop and devise a saddle for him," said Jolt determinedly.

"Alright, I'm not stopping you. You'll have to work you're way around those spikes though. That could be an issue."

Spark heard that and shifted slightly, causing several of his back spikes to retract into his skin.

"Or maybe not," said Hiccup.

"So I'll get started," said Jolt rolling up his sleeves. "Come on Spark, I need you for measurements.

"Just give me a second," said Hiccup. He approached Spark, hand outstretched to pet him.

"No don't..." Jolt said, but he was too late. A bolt shot from Spark's side, hitting the knife he was wearing at his waist and blasting him backward.

"I meant to warn you, his lightning seems to be attracted to metal. I'm still debating whether or not he can control it," said Jolt apologetically.

Hiccup nodded, rubbing his sore hip that had hit the ground. "I figured that out before actually. We had a huge lightning storm and I discovered that the lightning seems to love metal objects. Why remains to be seen, but still."

Jolt grinned. "All right Spark, let's get that saddle made, and then we'll see what you can do."


	3. The Skrill

Chapter 3: The Skrill

Jolt and Hiccup walked to the workshop, chatting along the way. For two teens about the same age (Hiccup was a month older), they had a lot in common. They were both social outcasts who had few friends, although for different reasons. Jolt, being a trader, never stayed in one place long and never really fit in anywhere, whereas Hiccup just never fit in because he was just different. Jolt was slightly bigger with a stronger build that allowed him to be a little more proficient in the field of battle, but he was also smart, like Hiccup. While Jolt had blond hair and blue eyes, Hiccup had brown hair and green eyes. They shared similar interests and got along very well together.

They arrived at the workshop and Jolt got to work drawing up a design. He took measurements of his own body dimensions and that of Spark's. Hiccup stood off to the side, interjecting his own ideas and comments. The saddle slowly came to life, the perfect shape and size to be form fitting to Jolt's legs and Spark's body. He even included a weapons holder and a satchel for carrying supplies. Hiccup had to admit that it was the best saddle that he had ever seen, besides the one he made for Toothless, which in itself was a mechanical marvel.

Jolt fitted the saddle to Spark. At first, Spark hated the saddle, and ran away from Jolt when he tried to get it on him. Hiccup smiled as he remembered when Toothless had done just about the same thing. Jolt finally got the saddle on Spark when he managed to calm the dragon down. Once the saddle was on the skrill, he jumped around, trying to get it off, but he wasn't able to get the saddle off because it was so well fitted and designed by Jolt. Once Spark realized he couldn't shake it, he started to get used to it. Jolt managed to get on Spark and they were off.

The dragon was certainly energetic, Jolt had to give him that. Spark dashed across the sky, flying at a speed just slower than that of Toothless. He flew in erratic spirals and twists, flashing everywhere. After a while of letting Spark have his fun, Jolt reigned him in and practiced getting Spark to actually go where he wanted. Spark was resistant, but eventually complied. Jolt tried a few tricks with Spark, which Spark thoroughly enjoyed. Spark shot a blast of white fire in the sky, where it hit against the clouds and exploded. He then shot a lightning bolt at those clouds, creating a powerful but small lightning storm.

"Cool! You can use your fire to create storms?" said Jolt unbelievably.

Spark screeched and raced into the storm he had created. Jolt could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand even higher than they already were, and he knew what was coming. Jolt had experience with lightning, especially since he had been struck by lightning as a kid. He remembered the sensation, as if the air was alive, and then it snapped, sending all of that energy into him.

In a flash of light and thunder, a bolt of lightning shot out from the cloud. Just before it struck, Spark spread out his wings. The lightning struck his wings, propelling them to a speed so fast, Jolt didn't think that Toothless would have stood a chance. They flew so fast that the air in front of them exploded in a bang that nearly ruptured Jolt's eardrums. Jolt reveled in the speed and power of the skrill, it just had so much raw energy that was impossible to ignore.

After that supersonic flight, they set back down by the academy. By then, Toothless and Hiccup had followed suit and flew to the academy. When Hiccup landed, he joined the other trainers in dropping his jaw in shock. They couldn't be in shock long though, because soon Toothless and Spark got into a standoff in the center of the arena.

"What's going on?" asked Jolt.

"I don't know, it seems like they really don't like each other. Well I guess Toothless did shoot him down the other night, but I don't know why," said Hiccup.

"Spark, back off!" commanded Jolt.

It only made it worse. The two dragons started firing at each other. Hiccup and Jolt both got in between the dragons, stopping the fight.

"I don't know what came over you bud. You're never like this," said Hiccup.

"Come on Spark, calm down. It's going to be okay. Toothless is a friend," said Jolt, trying to sound reassuring.

The two dragons backed off, but they still stared at each other, wary of each other and not allowing the other out their sight.

"So, anyway, how about Spark huh?" said Jolt.

"Yeah! I can't believe the way that he created the storm like that, and then he was riding the lightning! He is the coolest dragon ever! What else can he do?" said Fishlegs excitedly.

"Well, I know he can shoot lightning and white fire. His body seems to create some form of lightning on the surface of his skin, which it seems like he can tone down or up depending on his mood. The spikes on his back are retractable, although I'm not sure what purpose they have though," said Jolt very factually.

"Wow," said Fishlegs, obviously amazed with the skrill.

"Does he have a shot limit?" asked Hiccup curiously.

"Not as far as I know, but I know a way we can find out," said Jolt jumping on Spark. "Do you guys have any targets or something lying around?"

"Yeah we've got some over here. I'll throw them up for you to fire at," said Hiccup.

Hiccup went to the other side of the ring and started throwing up the targets one by one. When each one went up Jolt told Spark to fire at the targets. Spark shot a blast of white fire at each target, taking down four of them before he couldn't give any more.

"So I guess he has a shot limit of four. Not much. I want to try something though," said Jolt.

"Alright, I'll keep throwing them up," said Hiccup.

This time, instead of telling Spark to fire, Jolt told him to, well, spark. A bolt of lightning shot from his side and hit the target. He hit it dead center every time, which happened to be made of metal. He was able to keep up the lightning until Hiccup ran out of targets to throw. Jolt hopped of Spark and walked over to Hiccup.

"It seems as if he can create lightning infinitely. I don't think that there's a limit to the amount of lightning he can produce, and it seems like he can control it, to some extent. Useful to have, as it is more versatile, but it is attracted to metal," said Jolt.

"Amazing! I wonder what that lightning can do?" asked Snotlout.

"Yeah, like how destructive is it?" asked Tuffnut mischievously.

"How much stuff can it blow up? Because I love seeing stuff blow up," said Ruffnut, equally mischievously.

"Well, I think, like toothless, he can turn down the intensity to make it relatively harmless, but it can also be enhanced into something explosive," said Jolt.

"Let's try the explosive one!" said Ruffnut and Tuffnut simultaneously.

"Just be careful. Remember, large amounts of skrill lightning can change a person, driving most men mad. Just don't let it hit anyone.

"Hear that Spark? Give this one all you've got!" said Jolt, encouraging Spark.

Spark understood and nodded. Hiccup threw up the target. Spark closed his eyes, tensed, and then released a bolt of lightning so bright it temporarily blinded everyone. The sound of the impact was so intense that some of the trainers were literally blasted backwards. When everyone regained their sight and hearing, they went to inspect the carnage. The target was disintegrated into dust. There was barely anything to see, except the fine layer of powder that covered most of the arena.

"Well, that blast is pretty powerful. I don't think even Toothless could imitate that one," said Hiccup.

Jolt looked over at Spark, who was looking tired and hungry.

"I think that the blast took a lot out of him. The energy for the lightning has to come from him, so he can keep up and softer blast almost indefinitely, but a larger blast is much harder," observed Jolt.

"That makes sense. I wonder what else we can learn about him. I've got to update the Book of Dragons with the stats of this dragon," said Hiccup, a curious gleam in his eye.

"Well, sure. Let's..." Jolt started before they were interrupted by a screech from Spark, followed by a roar from Toothless. Apparently, whatever was exchanged did not go over well. Toothless reeled up and blasted at Spark again. Spark retaliated with a blast of lightning. Both were off the mark by a few feet, obviously just a warning shot. They charged each other, rearing up and clashed, Toothless's claws versus Spark's wingtip claws. They faced off there for a few minutes, scratching each other up pretty bad. They then back off to either ends of the arena and prepared a shot. They fired at the same time, and the skrill's lightning met the night furies plasma blast. The impact created a miniature ball of energy which quickly exploded more explosively than anyone had ever seen before.

Everyone, including the dragons, was blasted backward against the walls of the arena. Almost everyone was blasted against the hard stone walls, getting bruises but nothing more. Jolt, however, was less fortunate. He was blasted against the weapons rack, getting massively injured and getting knocked out in the process.

They all got up dazed and inspected the damage, not noticing Jolt's injury at first. Spark raced over quickly to Spark, realizing that he was hurt. Hiccup ran over and stopped him, making sure to keep Toothless and Spark apart. He saw Jolt lying on the ground.

"Get him to the healer! I'll calm down these dragons! He needs help, a lot of it," said Hiccup commandingly.

Ruffnut grabbed Jolt's arms and Tuffnut grabbed Jolt's legs. They called over their Zippleback, Barf and Belch, who had recovered from the blast. They placed Jolt onto the back of Barf and Belch, and flew him to the healer. The healer, Rowena, was in the center of the village, so as to be easily accessible to everyone in the village. Barf and Belch set down right in front of the healer's hut. They picked up Jolt and brought him into the healer's hut. Rowena looked Jolt over.

"He's suffered a lot of deep wounds, and several fractured bones. How on earth did he ever get beat up so bad?" asked Rowena, eying Ruffnut and Tuffnut skeptically.

Being their mother, Rowena knew all about Ruffnut and Tuffnut's mischievous ways.

"It wasn't us mom. Spark the skrill and Toothless shot at each other and created this huge explosion thing that blasted him back onto the weapons rack," said Ruffnut.

"That explains a lot. Give me some time, but I don't know how much I can do. His cuts are really deep."

Ruffnut and Tuffnut left the healer's hut and went to bring the news to Hiccup and the trainers. When they went back to the arena, they found the entire group holding back Toothless and Spark from attacking each other. Tuffnut and Ruffnut broke the news to Hiccup, while he was restraining Spark.

"Jolt's really hurt. Mom says she'll do what she can, but she doesn't think that there's much hope."

Spark perked his head, seeming to almost hear what the people were saying. He released a small shock, zapping the trainers who were restraining him. He broke free, racing off in the direction of the village. Hiccup jumped onto Toothless and raced after the skrill.

Spark sniffed the air, searching for the scent of his friend. He caught a whiff and followed it, tracing it to the healer's hut. Spark burst into the hut, followed by Hiccup, who tried with all of his might to control the beast. Spark, though, found Jolt and put his head by the bedside.

"No Spark! Back! Don't touch him!" said Hiccup.

But it was too late. Spark touched his head to Jolt's chest, sending bolts of energy through Jolt's body. Jolt shook, seizing up like he had been struck by lightning, which technically he had. Hiccup watched as Jolt's wounds started to close up. It stopped though, and the wounds started to bleed freshly. Spark sent another, stronger ripple of energy into Jolt's body, causing him to seize even more. Sparks of lightning flashed across Jolt's body from the electricity coursing through him. His wounds closed up, knitting the skin together perfectly.

After Spark saw that Jolt was okay, he backed off and walked outside. Rowena, who had watched the whole ordeal, inspected Jolt again. All of his wounds were closed, as if it had never happened.

"Wow. He's...he's healed. He just needs time to recover from the shock of the accident, and then he'll be right as rain," said Rowena in disbelief.

Hiccup walked outside, petting Spark on the neck, for the first time feeling the buzz of energy from his skin.

"Thanks for saving him for me, Spark. You are one amazing dragon," said Hiccup.

When he said that, something he said came back to him. _The lightning of a skrill can change the mind of some people, driving most mad..._


	4. The Awakening

Chapter 4: Awakening

Jolt's mind was plagued with nightmares. He had dreams, dreams that shocked him to the core. He dreamed that he was floating, high above the clouds in the midst of a storm, looking for...something. He wasn't sure what. He saw a shadow that loomed behind the clouds, just out of reach. A shadow that grew closer and closer as he looked on, starting to take on the shape of a dragon, a dragon with a very similar shape. A skrill. He heard a voice then, the voice of a man he thought he'd never see again. "Lightning Rider. You know me, and I know you." Before he could get a good look, he felt a burning pain in his back and side. Looking down he saw that he was bleeding profusely. He had no idea where the wounds had come from, but he knew they were bad. A bolt of lightning shot from the clouds near the storm and struck him. He wreathed, lightning energy shooting through him. It stopped and Jolt took a breath, but then a second, larger bolt followed, sending him wreathing again. The wreathing stopped, and darkness closed in.

After what seemed like a million year, Jolt began to regain consciousness. Light began to filter back into his field of vision, blinding his sensitive eyes. He blinked, squinting into the bright luminescence. He put his hand to his face, blocking out the light, standing up from the hard surface he was laying on. He looked over at the surface, and saw that it was a table. A very particular table. A table that he himself had helped unload from the trade ship. It was a specially crafted medical table. He was in the healer's hut.

But why? He looked down at himself. No cuts, no scrapes, no bruises. So why was he in the healer's hut? It all made no sense. He stood up, nearly collapsing. His legs were weak from...something. He sat back down on the table, taking deep breaths, trying to settle himself. He winced as a splinter from the table caught his arm, causing a small, but barely noticeable scratch that bled slightly.

"Ah, your awake. I was wondering when you'd wake up," said the healer, who Jolt knew was named Rowena.

"How long have I been out?" asked Jolt groggily.

"A few hours, nothing major. With the wounds you received, I'm surprised at how quickly you woke up actually."

"Wounds? But I'm not injured." he said, with a slight question in his voice.

"You _were_ injured, quite lethally, actually. And then your dragon, that skrill, came in and touched you. You seized, and I thought you were dying. As it shocked you though, your wounds started to close. It did it twice before your wounds finally closed fully. I've never seen anything like it. It was quite amazing, but I have no idea if there are any side effects. You're obviously weak. So you will have to rest before you can be out and about. You'll be right as rain by the end of the afternoon," said Rowena.

Jolt sighed and laid back down on the table. It was all so incredible, but somehow it had happened. In fact, the events she described were almost perfectly in line with his dream. The injuries, the shock, the darkness. Maybe he had been more awake than he realized. He didn't know how, but he just laid back and sighed again.

He sat up quickly though. "Where's Spark? Is he okay? He wasn't hurt was he?"

Rowena shook her head. "As far as I saw, he was fine. I believe he's outside. Hiccup had to restrain him because he wouldn't leave you alone, but he was getting in my way, and I couldn't tend to the other patients. I don't know how Hiccup restrained him. I've never seen any dragon and person this close, except for Hiccup and Toothless."

"Thanks, I guess," said Jolt, laying back down on the table.

Rowena brought some food for Jolt, who sat up and ate it hungrily. He had no idea how hungry he was until he ate. He downed a glass of water with it, also not realizing how parched he was either.

Soon after, Hiccup came into the healer's hut to check on Jolt. Jolt saw Hiccup come in, sat up for a second, but the effort was a little too much, so he just lay back down.

"Hey man, how are you doing? After yesterday, I was afraid you wouldn't make it," said Hiccup. "You know until Spark came in and...healed you somehow. I'm not quite sure how he did that, but I really want to know how. It could be useful for Rowena. I do have to ask though, how are you feeling?"

"Fine. Dare I say dandy. I'm tired, but otherwise okay."

"No I mean mentally. You remember everything? Are you in control of yourself? Do you feel mentally stable?" asked Hiccup.

Jolt looked at him like he had gone crazy. "I feel fine. Everything's all right up here," he said, tapping his skull with his finger. "Why do you ask?"

"As I said before, large amounts of skrill lightning, which you sustained, has been known to drive people crazy. I was just making sure that you were still all right in the head, you know."

"Yup I'm fine, just tired. No other side effects that I can feel."

Hiccup was going to say more when there was a commotion by the door. Spark blew past everyone and ran to Jolt's side.

"Hey Spark. How have you been?" Jolt said.

Spark nuzzle Jolt, trying to get as close to him as possible. He sniffed Jolt all over, checking to see if he was alright Jolt guessed.

"Yup Spark. I'm fine. Thanks."

Spark kept sniffing though, coming across the small scratch he had gotten from the table on his arm. Spark touched it with his muzzle, sending a small shock of lightning through him. Jolt gave a little shudder. As Hiccup and Jolt watched, a small branch of lightning wormed its way into the cut, sealing it shut as if the cut had never even existed.

Jolt and Hiccup looked up at each other, making eye contact. Hiccup gasped.

"What? Did what he just do scare you or something?" asked Jolt.

Hiccup continued to stare at Jolt, looking into his eyes.

"Have a look for yourself," said Hiccup, grabbing a small hand held mirror from a nearby medical table. Jolt took it, looking at himself. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, and then he saw it. His eyes. His eyes that were always a vibrant shade of blue were glowing. GLOWING. They were not only glowing, but sparking with flashes of light, like lightning flashing across his eyes. It looked amazing, like nothing he had ever seen.

"When did they start doing that?" asked Jolt.

"Just when he shocked you. It was like it surged right to your eyes and that cut. It...it just shook me a little, but I'll be fine. I just don't know why. I really need to study him more," said Hiccup, eying Spark curiously.

"Certainly. He just continues to amaze me," said Jolt, patting Spark on the neck.

Hiccup looked at him weirdly again. "What?" asked Jolt.

"Your eyes, they're glowing again. They stopped for a second, but when you touched Spark again, they started glowing. There's some sort of link between you two, I just can't figure out what it is," said Hiccup, scratching his chin in the way he always dd when he was thinking.

Jolt was about to reply when he heard a voice. It was a deep, powerful voice that seemed to come out of the air itself. It didn't say any discernible words, just mumbling and humming. Jolt shook his head, thinking that he had made up the voice. Hiccup saw him shake his head.

"What's up?" asked Hiccup.

Not wanting to look like he was going crazy he said, "Oh it's nothing. Just a headache that hit me suddenly."

He held his temple as the voice got louder. It was a never ending sound, a mix between a mumble, a buzz, and a hum. It increased in pitch, growing louder and starting to sound like words actually piecing together.

Jolt looked over at Spark, who was staring at him with those bright blue eyes. The voice intensified even more, causing him to place his hands on his ears to block it out, but it didn't stop it. As he stared at Spark, more words started to form. Eventually they created a discernible sentence. "Are you alright Jolt?" said the voice.

Jolt proceeded to pass out immediately.

He woke again to a cold wet rag on his head. He opened his eyes, blinking away the sleep from his eyes. Both Hiccup and Spark were standing over him with worried looks.

"I'm okay guys really. Just got tired all of a sudden. I really need some more rest before I can be this active again," said Jolt.

Hiccup nodded, leaving quietly. He tried to coax Spark out of the healer's hut, but it was to no avail. Spark was determined to stay by his friend. Jolt dozed off, enjoying the blissful emptiness of sleep.

He awoke later, as the sun was setting. He felt fully rested, refreshed. He jumped off of the rather uncomfortable table. Spark raced to his side, and they walked out of the healer's hut together. Hiccup was walking by just as they walked out.

"Hey, glad to see you guys are up. You're just in time for dinner."

Jolt's stomach growled at the thought. Hiccup smiled. Jolt was notorious for his love of food, even though he didn't have an ounce of fat on his body. Jolt agreed happily and followed Hiccup to the Great Hall. Spark and Toothless glared at each other, obviously not over their squabble earlier.

"Come on you two," said Hiccup. "Quit fighting and we'll get you some food."

Jolt helped Hiccup get out two large bags of fish, dropping them near the dragons, who dug in rather readily.

Jolt and Hiccup went into the Great Hall and sat at the table with the other teens. They dug into their food, Jolt especially since he had only eaten the little food Rowena had given him before lunch. Some of the other teens looked over at the boy, who was packing away more food than some of the other teens combined, and he had a similar wiry frame to Hiccup, leaving the teens wondering where he put it all.

Stoick stood up from his position at the head table. Everyone quieted down as they awaited his announcement. "In light of the recent events with his ship and home town, Trader Kyle has decided to settle down here in Berk. I expect you to help him out while we build him a house. He and his family are one of us now!" he said, and everyone cheered.

Jolt smiled, grateful that they were going to be staying there. Jolt loved Berk most of all the islands. Hiccup was one of his best friends, if he could call him that as he only saw him for a week at a time. Sure he had friends on the other islands, but none like Hiccup. They never understood him as Hiccup did, and he was grateful for it.

Jolt was still going to be staying at Hiccup's house until his house was built. They settled in for the night after such a long day. Just as they were about to fall asleep, a thought came to Jolt. "Hey Hiccup? How did I get banged up so bad? You never told me."

Hiccup rolled over so as to actually see Jolt while he spoke to him.

"I don't know what happened. Spark and Toothless got into a fight, and then Spark fired a lightning bolt and Toothless fired a plasma blast. They met in mid air, expanding and then exploding. You were in just the wrong spot to get blown back into the weapons rack."

Jolt gasped. "The maelstrom," he said, squeaking it out in something resembling a whimper and a whisper. "The joining of a skrill's lightning and the blast of a night fury, the most powerful event in the world. The two forced repel each other so much that when forced together, they explode. I don't know how we survived."

"Where did you learn that legend? I've never heard it before."

"Well, when your ship is constantly plagued by a skrill and a skrill killed you mother, you learn a thing or too."

"I'm sorry about your mother Jolt."

"It happened a long time ago."

"I know, but you must still miss her."

"Oh I do. A lot. But nothing can bring her back."

They both sat in awkward silence, trying to fall asleep in the cold night. They both dozed off for a little, but when they awoke again, they had trouble finding sleep.

They both got up at the same time, looking at each other with a sense of recognition.

"Can't sleep huh?"

"No, you?"

"Of course," said Hiccup in his usual sarcastic way.

"Up for a classic duel? It'll take our mind off of things," offered Jolt.

Hiccup smiled. Jolt and him often had practice duels, which were rather comical as Jolt was awkward with weapons and Hiccup could barely lift them.

"Sure. We'll go to the cove. It's always quieter there."

They walked outside, stopping by the smith by the smith to grab weapons. Hiccup, saying he had something special for him, grabbed a sack full of some weapons that Hiccup had supposedly tailor made for the purpose.

"I was planning on giving to you tomorrow, but now is a good a time as any," said Hiccup, winking at Jolt.

They left the smith and walked to the cove. Hiccup put down the bag and opened it up, pulling out a regular shield, a knife, a short sword, and a stack of small rounded rectangular disks, about six inches long. Jolt looked puzzled, so Hiccup explained.

"These are some prototypes that I've been working on, and I think you'll like them. The short sword contains a small hidden compartment for a blinding powder I developed that can be opened in battle to temporarily blind your opponent. The shield is sharpened on the edges, allowing you to use it as a weapon. The edge retracts when you don't want it so you don't cut yourself. This," he said, grabbing the knife, "is one of my more genius inventions. Take it. Notice anything different about it?"

Jolt took it, feeling that it was much heavier than it looked. The handle was slightly too large, as if it were designed for a sword, not a knife. The blade, also, was not one piece, but two. Jolt looked at Hiccup, confused.

Hiccup took the knife back. He flicked a hidden catch with his thumb on the handle and flicked out the knife. It expanded into a short sword, about the same size as the other one Hiccup brought.

Jolt took it, amazed at the design. You could barely tell that it was made of separate pieces that could collapse at will. It was truly amazing. It was balanced perfectly, feeling almost weightless in his hands.

"That one was tricky, because it's hollow on the inside, so I had to make the steel extra strong without making it thicker. This one is one of my favorites," he said, grabbing the metal plates.

He attached the stack to his arm. Securing it with leather straps. He hit a catch on the back and flicked his arm. The disks separated, rotating in a circle before he was left with a circular shield of a good size with the design of a night fury decorating it in the center. It locked into place, preventing the plates from falling out of place. Hiccup ran his hand along the edge of the shield, admiring his creation.

"That is awesome! How did you do that?" asked Jolt excitedly.

"Well the plates stack in such a way that when the momentum of my arm stops, they release, spinning in a circular pattern until they lock in place. Pretty neat, huh?" said Hiccup casually.

"Did I mention that you're a genius?" said Jolt, jokingly.

Hiccup chuckled. "More times than I can count. All right grab your weapons. The razor shield and the knife/sword I made for you, and the collapsible shield and blinding powder sword I made for me. Now let's dance. I promise not to use the blinding powder on you, especially since you're just recovered," said Hiccup smirking.

"Oh ha ha. Very funny. I'm perfectly fine now, so don' you go easy on me. I want a challenge."

"You'll get more than that," said Hiccup confidently.

Jolt laughed. "From you? We'll have to see about that."

Jolt grabbed the knife and shield, noticing for the first time that each was marked with a small picture of a skrill in flight. It was a cool design, and he saw that Hiccup had a similar design on his sword and shield, but his was a night fury.

They started circling each other in the corner of the cove. They both stashed their collapsible weapons into collapsed mode before the match, choosing to reveal them when the time came. They charged at each other, Jolt swinging the knife in a normal grip, releasing the blade which clanged against Hiccup's short sword. Jolt swung to Hiccup's unprotected side, but he opened his shield just in time to block the strike. They continued to weave and dance in the moonlight, neither side giving ground as they fought mercilessly with their blades. Jolt was surprised that Hiccup could even lift the thing, let alone swing it in the moves that he was using. Jolt had picked up his skill from his father, one of the best sword fighters in shivering shore. They used to have practice duels now and then to keep them fresh. Jolt had no idea where Hiccup came up with any skill. Another thing that always got Jolt mixed up when they dueled, Hiccup was a lefty. Jolt being a righty, he had to think about his attacks before hand, reacting in a different way, but at least they both had to do it.

They fought back and forth, until finally Jolt found the perfect time and slammed the flat of his sword on Hiccup's wrist, causing him to drop his sword. Hiccup tried to use his shield in defense, but Jolt knocked that off his arm with a sharp blow to the hardened steel. Hiccup threw up his arms as Jolt placed the sword tip at Hiccup's throat, a sign of victory.

They both relaxed their arms, flopping onto the ground in a state of exhaustion.

"You know," said Jolt, breathing hard, "I never knew...that you could...fight that well."

"Well...I know somebody," said Hiccup, breathing equally as hard.

"Astrid?" asked Jolt.

Hiccup just nodded, lying down on the cold ground, trying to get his breath back. "The sword helped too, I made it a little lighter and better balanced so I can actually use it. That and working with the dragons gives you a little muscle. What about you? I've never seen you fight that good before."

Jolt shrugged. "When your father's the best swordsman on the shivering shores, you learn a thing or two."

They both started laughing, thinking about how far they both had come from being the nobodies who couldn't do anything to these fearsome teens that most everybody respected. They relaxed for a while before packing up and heading home. They crawled into their beds, exhausted by the exercise. Jolt mentally slapped himself, forgetting his sword fighting etiquette. He reached over, putting out his hand for Hiccup.

"Good match," he said.

Hiccup shook his hand, but quickly drew it back wincing when he did.

"What's wrong?" asked a confused Jolt.

"You shocked me! That hurt! I don't know how you did that, but ow!" said Hiccup, nursing his hand. Jolt looked down at his own hands, not knowing how he had just shocked Hiccup. He noticed something different about his hands, the hands that had always been hard and rough from working on the trading ship. He noticed that his right hand, the hand he had shaken with Hiccup, had a scar on it, a scar he had never seen before. It was shaped in the vague form of a lightning bolt angled downward. He had never noticed it before. Maybe it had been from the accident? He didn't know, but he knew that when Spark healed him, he left no scars, so how had that one gotten there? Spark rolled over in his sleep, nudging against Jolt as he did so, since they slept so close. Jolt shoved the dragon aside, looking back at his hands. He gasped.

The scar, like his eyes, was glowing a bright shade of blue and sparking with lightning. It was totally unnatural, and Jolt wanted it to stop. All of a sudden, the voice came back, invading his head with its mumbling and humming. He laid down gingerly, shaking all over. Maybe Hiccup was right. Maybe he _was_ going mad. He drifted off into an uneasy and fitful sleep.


	5. Lightning Strikes Hard

Chapter 5: Lightning Strikes Hard

Jolt woke up to the beautiful rays of sunshine pouring through the window onto his face, illuminating the crowded and messy room. Honestly, it was like Hiccup never cleaned up in there. There were papers everywhere, drafts for designs, drawings, schematics, you name it. Jolt sighed, rolling over. Hiccup was still sleeping, so Jolt got up and started perusing through Hiccup's schematics.

Jolt had to admit, they were all genius inventions. Several of the ones that looked much older appeared to be more focused on weaponry, with notes on weaknesses of dragons and how the device employed said weakness. The newer looking designs were more focused on dragons and devices for the shops around town. Some of them Jolt recognized, such as the holding rack for molten hot weapons that now stood in the forge.

What really got to him though was the drawings. They were amazing, painting a story with the strokes of the charcoal that Hiccup used. Most of them were of Toothless and Hiccup together, some of just Toothless, and some of the other riders and their dragons. Most of the teens were there with their dragons, with a description under each of the rider and the dragon. Most of them looked like they were still in the process of being drawn, but they were still amazing. They were all in a stack of paper labeled projects, Hiccup's rather ineffective filing system. He was about to move onto the next pile when something at the bottom of the stack caught his eye. He just saw the edge of the drawing, but he knew that shape. He pulled it out, gasping when he saw it.

It was a picture of Jolt and Spark flying through the sky, looking rather menacing together. Jolt's usual blue tunic and pants was a similar shade to that of Spark's scales, with his vest thrown in there for a color contrast, both whipping in the invisible wind. Jolt's face looked ecstatic, and Spark's almost more so. Hiccup had captured Spark in the pose of flying at a high speed across the sky. He noticed that there was a bolt of lightning coming from behind them, striking the wings of the skrill in the same way that Jolt had observed when he first took Spark flying. The thing that really shocked Jolt most though were the eyes. Both Jolt and Spark were captured with their electric blue eyes glowing with the same inner light that they had when Spark shocked him. Both of their eyes were also captured with the same flashes of lightning that shone in them when Spark had shocked him. It was quite breathtaking, the way that Hiccup had managed to capture so much emotion into a picture. When he looked over at Hiccup sleeping, he saw smudges of charcoal on his hands. He must have been up all night working on that picture. Jolt guessed he just couldn't sleep, so he had drawn. Jolt replaced the picture under the stack and went back to his bed.

He thought back to the other night. It hadn't really happened, had it? He hadn't actually started glowing, had he? Was it all just a dream? Jolt had no idea, but he knew one way to check. He reached over and patted Spark on the neck.

He looked down at his right hand and saw the now familiar blue glow coming from the lightning scar. Jolt sighed. So it wasn't a dream after all. Why was he glowing all of a sudden? He couldn't let anyone see him do that, or else he'd look like a freak. No, when he touched Spark, he had to do it with his right hand hidden so that it wouldn't glow again.

Hiccup woke up to see Jolt staring at his hands. The glow had faded by now, so Hiccup didn't notice anything different. He mumbled something offensive about people who rise too early and got out of bed. Jolt immediately jerked his head up, putting his hands down where Hiccup couldn't see the palms. Hiccup thought nothing of it, but Jolt looked nervous. Hiccup shrugged, pulling on his vest and boots, strapping on his prosthetic leg. Jolt too grabbed his vest and boots, and they headed over to the Great Hall for breakfast.

They made sure to feed the dragons on the way over. Hiccup told Jolt an amusing story of the time he had forgotten to feed Toothless.

"He raced into the Great Hall and picked me up by my vest and ran me all the way back to the storage hut. He nudged me into the hut, looking rather impatient. I was afraid he was going to eat me if I didn't get him anything, and I never forgot to feed him again."

Jolt laughed. It was amazing how close the too of them were, Hiccup and Toothless. They were inseparable, except for when they had to eat. Everywhere else, Toothless followed Hiccup wherever he went.

They settled into their breakfast. The other teens seemed fascinated by Jolt, especially since the explosion and then miracle recovery.

"Hey Jolt, you coming to training today?" asked Astrid.

"Um, yeah, I guess, if you guys will let me," said Jolt tentatively.

"Good, because we're doing man to man combat today, and I can't wait to beat your sorry ass to the ground," said Snotlout arrogantly.

Jolt just sighed. Snotlout and Jolt never got along, ever since Jolt had caught Snotlout trying to steal from the ship a year ago. Ever since, it was Snotlout's personal mission to give Jolt the beating of a lifetime, but he never got the chance. The last time Snotlout had seen him, he hadn't been that great of a fighter. He didn't want to let on his new skills. Boy, was Snotlout in for a surprise.

After breakfast, Hiccup offered to have Jolt go flying with him.

"Sure, I'll come. Spark needs some exercise anyway."

They walked over to where their dragons were walking around. They saddled them up and were off.

Once again, it never ceased to amaze Jolt how amazing flying was. It was a whole new world up there in the clouds, a world were you could be free as free could be. Spark made a few lightning bolts and rode them, screeching in delight. They flew around until it was time for training. They set down by the arena, and they dismounted and went inside.

Most of the other teens were already there, prepping their weapons for that day's training. The dragons were just wandering around outside, so Spark and Toothless joined them, leaving Jolt and Hiccup to themselves. They had brought their modified weaponry to training, waiting to unveil Hiccup's creations to the others.

"All right, as you all know, today is man to man combat training. This will be extremely important, especially with Alvin's increasing boldness. Pair up, and get started. The winner is the one who successfully disarms their opponent, shield and sword. The winners will face each other until only one person remains. Ready, and begin!" shouted Hiccup, as the teens raced to pair up.

Snotlout immediately raced for Jolt. Astrid ran for Hiccup. The twins paired up, so Fishlegs decided to sit the training out, watching and observing from the sidelines. No one said it, but Fishlegs was the worst fighter, worse even then Hiccup. He studied the book of dragons, and that was his valuable contribution to the dragon trainers.

They began to fight, Jolt grabbing out his knife/sword which he had now affectionately nick named Switchblade. His razor shield, which he nick named edger, was on his arm, poised and ready. Snotlout, seeing the knife in Jolt's hand laughed.

"What are you going to do, baby? Hit me on the cheek with your knife?" he said tauntingly. He lifted his heavy war hammer. "Now this is going to do some damage." Let's see what your little knife will do, shall we?"

Jolt smiled. "I couldn't agree more."

Snotlout charged, but Jolt stood his ground. Snotlout swung his hammer, bringing it on a collision course with Jolt's head, but he dodged at the last minute, toying with him. Snotlout swung sideways next time, and Jolt decided to release his secret weapon. As it was swinging around, Jolt expanded Switchblade into it's short sword form, catching Snotlout's hammer with the blade. Snotlout's eyes widened with disbelief, but he recovered quickly. He swing again, and Jolt parried the strike with Switchblade, pushing against the heavy hammer with all of his might. Snotlout had strength, Jolt had to give him that, but he didn't fight smart, so Jolt had an advantage. He had a new idea that was so crazy that it just might work. He switched Switchblade back into a knife and sheathed it. He exposed Edger's razor sharp edge.

Removing the shield from his arm, he flung it across at Snotlout, who had to dodge to avoid it's razor sharp edge. That was Jolt's chance. He plucked Switchblade from its sheath and threw it end over end in Snotlout's direction. He didn't even get to blink before the blade caught his tunic and pinned his shoulder to the wall. He tried to move his arm to attack Jolt as he advanced, but he couldn't move his arm into a position that he could move the hammer. Jolt walked over and plucked the hammer and shield from a breathless Snotlout.

"Thank you. I think I'll take those," he said smirking. "And Switchblade, you too. Can't have you soiled by Snotlout."

Snotlout looked like he might explode. "You are dead you little cheater."

"Not likely, if you continue to fight like that. Fight smart, not hard, and you may be able to beat me someday. But for now, work on your technique. Oh, and you might want to pick a more agile weapon. That hammer just doesn't cut it," said Jolt, walking off victorious.

He grabbed his shield and watched the other fights. The twins were succeeding in demolishing each other. Astrid was fairly pounding Hiccup, who was making full use of his collapsible shield, but Astrid was just too powerful and quick. Hiccup could fight smart, but so could Astrid, and Astrid was faster. Much faster and much more agile. She managed to get Hiccup's shield away from him and then his sword, holding her ax at his throat.

The final match was to be between Astrid and Jolt, as the twins had beat each other up so bad that they could barely walk, nothing unusual for them, according to Hiccup.

Astrid and Jolt faced off, circling one another, eying each other with a investigative glare. Jolt's adrenaline was pumping hard from his fight with Snotlout, and he felt a strange tension all over his body, as if something was inside him that wanted to get out. He shook it off, focusing on the match. Astrid dove forward, attacking directly with her ax. Jolt expanded Switchblade and parried her strike, surprising her, but not by much. Astrid was familiar with Hiccup's weapons and schemes, so she took it in stride. They fought back and forth, neither giving up any ground. A swing from Astrid's ax brought it swinging at his head. It was moving too fast to dodge or block, and Jolt held his breath, expecting the pain.

Time slowed down, concentrating itself into the few seconds before the ax would hit him. The tension he had felt before was even stronger now. As if on instinct, Jolt brought his right hand up to try to deflect the blade, but he was already too late. There was nothing that he could do. Suddenly, he felt the tension all over his body shift, concentrating on the lightning scar on his hand. Before he knew it, a flash of lightning blasted from his hand and struck Astrid's ax, sending it spinning away from her. He had almost been touching it when it happened, so it flew far.

Astrid was stunned, and Jolt disarmed her from her shield easily. Everyone stared at Jolt, wondering how on earth he had just fired lightning from his hand. The tension in Jolt's body gathered even more forcefully, threatening to explode from him. He raced out of the training ring, jumping on Spark's back and urging him on faster. He almost couldn't take the pressure that as building inside of him. He tried to contain it, but it still built. He landed in the cove and released the huge pressure that had built up inside him.

Lightning bolt's the size of his hand flew off of him in a spectacular array of blinding light and speed. They leaped out and struck the walls of the cavern, exploding in a fiery flash. He gasped, dropping to his knees. What was happening to him? How was he able to do this? He looked down to his right hand which was now glowing bright blue. He close his eyes, trying to calm himself, but no peace came. He heard Hiccup and Toothless above him and tried to hide. He found that he barely had the strength to move, let alone move. He just collapsed on the ground as Hiccup approached. He would have a lot of explaining to do.

**Just a little note that I should have said earlier. I do not own HTTYD (although that would be neat) although all of the OC's are mine.**


	6. New Powers

Chapter 6: New Powers

Hiccup and Toothless walked over to where Jolt was lying on the ground. Spark was next to him, trying to get him up with his claws, but Jolt was dead in the water, completely wiped out. Hiccup tried to get closer, but Spark growled at him, sending a burst of fire at him. Hiccup heard Jolt's voice, which seemed tiny and far away.

"It's okay Spark. Let them come. We'll have to tell them everything now."

Spark let Hiccup and Toothless through, still keeping a wary eye on Toothless. Hiccup knelt down by Jolt, who tried to sit up but ended up collapsing again.

"All you alright Jolt," asked a concerned Hiccup.

Jolt coughed and replied weakly, "I have no idea. I don't know how that just happened. I'll try to tell you everything I know, but it's still all kind of a blur."

Hiccup helped him to get to a sitting position, propping him up against one of the walls of the cove. Jolt was very weak from the explosion, so he had trouble just sitting up. He coughed again, trying to speak. Hiccup could only make out one word. "Water," Jolt whispered.

Hiccup ran over over to Toothless's saddle packs and pulled out a water skin. It was full to the brim, and Jolt drank it up greedily. Once his thirst was quenched, started to tell his tale.

"Well, ever since Spark healed me, strange things have been happening to me. I started glowing, as you saw, but in another place as well." Jolt motioned for Spark to come over, and he did. He reached out and touched him with his left hand, holding his right up so that Hiccup could see it. Hiccup gasped as it glowed blue, the same blue as Jolt's eyes. "Yeah, so that started happening. And then at training today, when my adrenaline got up, I started to feel this tension in my body, like there was something inside of me that wanted to escape. When Astrid swung that ax at my head, I reacted instinctively, raising my hand to defend myself, and then the tension concentrated itself in my hand, shooting a bolt out of my hand. After that fight, the tension got so bad that I raced off with Spark and landed in the cove here, where I just released that tension all at once. It exploded out of me. I'm sure you saw the rest."

Hiccup nodded. He had certainly seen the light show from up above, and he had thought that maybe Spark had attacked him. Now he knew the truth, but he found it hard to believe. How did Jolt suddenly possess powers like that? And then he realized that Jolt had been shocked by Spark. A skrill. Their lightning could change people. Maybe he had been changed in a way that gave him these powers. He needed to learn more.

Jolt was glad that he had gotten his story off of his chest. He didn't want to have to hide it from anyone, and he was glad to be able to share it with someone. He knew that Hiccup would feel the same way in his shoes, and he was grateful for his support.

Then the voice started up again. Jolt had chosen to leave that out, thinking that it was just something he had imagined, or maybe a reason that he had gone mad. He knew, though, that it was something different. It was in his mind, but yet not. He could hear it, but he understood it in his mind. It was a weird sensation.

The voice was much clearer this time, forming words and phrases. He looked toward Spark and the words started to solidify into words.

Spark nodded. _How are you Jolt?_

Jolt shook his head, not wanting this to happen. Hiccup noticed and asked him about it. "There's something you're not telling me, right?"

Jolt just sighed. "Yup. Lately I've been hearing this voice, this deep, powerful voice that comes from everywhere and nowhere all at once. It's the weirdest feeling, but it solidifies more when I look at Spark. I'm wondering if he might be the voice."

Jolt looked over to Spark, who nodded and asked again. _How are you Jolt? You seem pretty shaken up._

"Um yeah, I am actually. Thanks for wondering. I'm just shaken up because that sort of thing has never happened to me before. I've never been able to shoot lightning out of my fingertips. It scared me and shocked me," said Jolt out loud, not thinking before he did so. Hiccup just stared.

"What?"

"Who are you talking to?"

Jolt frowned. "I was talking to Spark, who coincidentally can talk back to me. It's kind of weird, but I've kind of gotten used to it.

"See, there's this theory I'm working on that dragons speak in a language I like to call dragonese. I think that when Spark shocked you he changed you. Now you can do all this stuff and speak dragonese. There must be something special about you, because every other instance that a skrill has attacked someone, they've either died or gone mad. In fact, Bucket is one of those people. He was attacked when he was a warrior, and it split his skull in two. He was forced to wear a bucket on his head to keep it all in. He too, was changed by the blast. His brain doesn't work that well, but he was changed into an artist, the best that Berk has ever seen. I really need to look into it more," said Hiccup, scratching his chin again.

"Well I think you're right about dragonese. It seems like Spark talks in grunts and hums and whistles, which I can somehow translate. I don't know if you can learn it or not, but you could try. I'll try to tell you everything I can, but my knowledge of it is limited. Like I said, it's only been like this since yesterday."

Hiccup and Jolt sat in silence again, not looking each other in the eye. Jolt stated what they were both thinking. "We can't tell anyone about this can we?"

Hiccup sighed. "No we can't. With these new powers of yours, Mildew will probably get you thrown off of the island. Heck, just for befriending a skrill he might kick you off. The skrill is one of the most notorious dragons, known to be extremely violent and destructive."

"But they're not! At least, Spark isn't," said Jolt in defense.

"You know that, but no one else does. As far as they know, Spark is a vicious man eating beast that will destroy everything in sight."

"Well that brings up my next question. How will we explain what happened in the ring?"

Hiccup frowned, and Jolt could almost see the gears in his head whirling in thought. After a minute or two, he looked up. "Okay, so here's my plan. We'll say that it was Spark's doing, and you ran out of the ring because you were afraid that it might happen again and that it might hit someone. You ran off to calm him down, that's all."

Jolt nodded. It sounded believable, but he didn't know if the other teens would buy it. There were definite loopholes, but they would have to play it by ear. Jolt took a deep breath, braced himself, and stood up. He was remarkably recovered, considering that he couldn't even sit up before. In fact, he felt like he could fly, with the amount of energy buzzing through him. He mounted Spark as Hiccup mounted Toothless and they flew back to the arena.

The other teens were waiting there impatiently. Apparently they thought that what happened couldn't just be put off without answers, as Jolt and Hiccup had been gone for the better part of a half hour. Astrid ran up to Hiccup when he walked in, hugging him fiercely.

"Don't do that! I almost went out looking for you, but I decided against it. You can look after yourself, but where did you go?!" screamed Astrid.

"Yeah! First Jolt runs off and then you follow and then you don't come back. We want answers," said an impatient Snotlout.

Jolt sighed, patting Spark on the neck. "He got so riled up, especially since he blasted Astrid's ax that I needed to calm him down. Hiccup was just concerned about where we were going, and when he followed me, he helped me calm Spark down," he said by way of explanation.

Astrid looked like she didn't buy the story for a second, but she went along with it. "Well get that dragon under control. We can't have you running off again," she said, storming off. The rest of the teens followed her out of the ring, leaving just Hiccup and Jolt with their dragons in the ring.

"Man, she can be quite a handful," said Jolt.

Hiccup snorted. "You have no idea."

_I must say, that is true. She's got quite the fighter spirit in her. I can see why she liked the nadder_.

Jolt nodded. "Yup, she's feisty, but she's a good friend, so I wouldn't worry about her much."

Hiccup looked at him, and Jolt just pointed to Spark by way of explanation. Hiccup nodded, still trying to soak in the thought that the dragons could actually talk. Could he learn the language? He didn't know.

Hiccup was about to say something when Spark suddenly burst out into a flurry of lightning bolts flashing across his body, not going anywhere, but still frightening.

"What's going on?" asked Jolt, scared.

_Ugh. Just...got to...get this under control._ Spark sounded like he was struggling with something, but Jolt didn't know what. After a few seconds, the bolts shut off, leaving Spark huffing and puffing. Spark laid down on the ground, obviously tired. That's when Jolt noticed what was attached to Spark's side. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

He walked over to the other side of Spark and saw that he was right. Almost every weapon from the rack that stood in the ring was sticking to the side of Spark, held in place by some unknown force. Jolt tried to pry one off, and he successfully removed it from the dragon, but it was quickly grabbed from his arms by the unknown force and stuck back to Spark. After a while, the force seemed to wear off, and the weapons fell off of Spark, allowing Jolt to pick them up.

Hiccup had watched the whole thing, and just stood there dumbfounded. How had the dragon been able to have that metal stick to him like that? It went against any kind of laws of nature that Hiccup knew of. It only seemed like the force attracted metal objects, just like lightning was attracted to metal. Maybe there was a connection? It was just another question that he had no answer to.

Suddenly Jolt sat back, taking quick breaths, gritting his teeth in pain. Hiccup tried to get closer, but Jolt said through clenched teeth, "Get away. It's happening again."

Hiccup backed up as he watched Jolt try to breath deeply, trying to calm the growing tension. Jolt was scared that the energy would hit Hiccup if it just exploded, that and everyone would see it. He tried to focus the pressure in his scarred hand, letting it out slowly, like water leaking through a dam. Lightning bolts flashed across the surface of his skin, just like they had done with Spark. Jolt looked at his hand in excitement, at least until he saw the battle ax that was flying through the air at him. He ducked out of the way, but the ax turned around in the air and raced after him again. He held his hand out, trying to catch it, and surprisingly, it flew to his hand quickly. Soon, several other weapons were flying his way. He shut off the power to his hand, and soon the weapons dropped.

Jolt breathed a sigh of relief. Hiccup just looked on, thoroughly baffled. So now Jolt could do it too? It was all just too much for him to process. He sat down, head in his hands, trying to make sense of it all.

Jolt just stared at his hands. The pressure built up again, and he let it out slowly through his hand again, more slowly than before. The weapons didn't leap up at his this time, which Jolt was grateful for. He tried to focus on the battle ax again, extending his hand toward it. The ax rose off of the ground, hovering at the same height as his hand. He moved his hand up and down, and the ax followed his motions. He let more power flow to his hand, and the ax flew toward his hand again. He shut it off when the ax reached his hand, and he was able to drop it.

"Wow. That is...interesting. It seems like you and your dragon are pretty amazing. I need to figure out how that works," said Hiccup scratching his chin again.

"Yeah, and I need a place to practice these new powers, so they don't explode out of me again. If I were to start sparking in public, people would chuck me off of Berk before you could say 'dragon'. I was thinking that I could use the cove, if you're okay with that Hiccup," said Jolt.

"Yeah sure. I don't mind, it's just that we can't let anyone else find out about it, or we're both in deep trouble."

Jolt nodded. "Of course. I'll try to keep it low key." Then Jolt had a thought that made him sit down suddenly, thinking hard. He hadn't told his father about Spark. How would he take it that his son was riding the same kind of beast that had killed his wife? Would he take that well, or would he disown him immediately? He had to think it through.

Jolt could tell that Hiccup was thinking the same thing. "Hey, we'll figure it out alright. Together," he said, putting his hand up. Jolt grasped it, steadying himself, and they walked off to break the news to Kyle.

**Just a quick note about Jolt's new powers. Jolt can do pretty much everything with electricity that Spark can. They can throw lightning bolts, heal themselves, and can attract metal objects. Jolt can speak dragonese (which will come into play more later). The reason that Spark and Jolt can attract metal objects is that they both function as living electromagnets. The electricity inside of them is spiraling around the 'core' of their bodies, creating a giant electromagnet, much like the little experiment you did as a kid with a nail, some wire, and a battery. They can concentrate the magnetism to certain parts of their body, allowing them to actual cause metal objects to hover at will and then attract or repel them. Since vikings don't know anything about electromagnetism, they obviously will never find out about how it really works.**


	7. Acceptance

Chapter 7: Acceptance

Jolt and Hiccup walked slowly along the path towards the village from the training arena. Jolt's mind was whirling, trying to predict what his father would say. Would he be fine with Jolt befriending Spark? Or would he go ballistic? After all, a skrill had killed his wife, so how would he react? There were too many ifs involved.

Hiccup noticed his friends downtrodden look and tried to cheer him up. He used his arsenal of jokes and sarcastic statements that he had gathered from his years of being rejected. The only way that Hiccup had ever managed to survive was by hiding the fact that being insulted and outcast didn't bother him by making jokes and always being sarcastic. It helped, to some extent, but after a while, people got used to it and just worked around it. But still, he did have an impressive collection.

Nothing he said seemed to have any effect on Jolt. Hiccup could see that Jolt was lost in thought, and so he stopped trying to make conversation. Instead he thought back to Toothless. He so wished that Toothless and him could talk. He was starting to make some breakthroughs with dragonese, mostly yes, no, and his name. He could tell that Toothless, as well as other dragons, could understand him, but he couldn't comprehend their language. With Jolt's new skill at dragonese, maybe he could actually begin to communicate with Toothless. Hiccup reveled in that thought. Many times, it seemed like their relationship was extremely one-sided, with Hiccup doing all the communicating. Sure, Toothless responded, he even seemed to almost contribute to the conversation, but if Hiccup could actually talk to him, that would be so huge. To be able to finally understand who his friend really was, and how he felt about him, other dragons, everything, would just be so awesome.

With both boys lost in thought, they didn't even realize they were in the village until a burly looking man with a bucket on his head almost ran into them with a wheelbarrow full of fish.

"Sorry Hiccup and Jolt! Gotta get these fish to the Great Hall!" yelled the man as he raced off down the street.

"Uh, Bucket? The Great Hall's that way," said Hiccup, pointing in the direction that he had just come from.

Bucket looked in the direction he pointed, nodded raced off again.

"That was Bucket, the guy I was telling you about earlier," said Hiccup.

"Not the sharpest knife in the drawer is he?" asked Jolt jokingly.

"Not really, but he's just such a nice guy, you can't help but like him."

"Which came first, the bucket or the name?" asked Jolt.

"Funny you should ask. I honestly have no idea. I've always remembered him as Bucket, and so has he. He doesn't have any memories of his past life before his skull was split, so he's just...Bucket. That's all."

Jolt shook his head. Was that what could happen to him? Would he be reduced to what Bucket was? He couldn't bear the thought of that.

_Don't worry Jolt. That's not going to happen to you. You're mind is stronger than his was. You are unique in that respect, besides Hiccup. You two are the only ones to actually survive the changing_, said Spark.

Jolt jumped a bit. He had forgotten about Spark and that he could talk. It was slightly reassuring, what he said, but there was still a nagging doubt in his mind.

"Thanks Spark. I know you'll help me through this," he said patting him on the back.

"Um, Jolt. You may not want to do that in public. You look like a complete idiot," said Hiccup out of the side of his mouth.

"Good to note. Sorry, I just acted out of instinct. Usually it's impolite to not reply to someone when they say something to you."

They continued in silence until they reached the plot that was under construction to become Jolt's new house. They saw Kyle and a few other men looking over the plans for the new house, which was mostly just framework at that point. Jolt had no idea what the layout of the house was, but he was sure that it was well designed because Hiccup had designed it. He had become something of the village's architect and designer as well as being the dragon trainer. He was usually very busy, but he always found time to escape and take a good fly on Toothless. Hiccup had finally found his calling, and Jolt was happy for him.

Jolt took a deep breath, steadied himself, and walked over to his father. Kyle didn't even notice him standing there until Jolt asked, "What are you guys doing over here?"

Kyle looked up. "Oh, just going over the plans for the house again before we begin more work on the framework. Some of these markings on the plan make no sense though. Is Hiccup anywhere around?"

"Yeah, he's right behind me."

Kyle looked over and saw him, beckoning him toward the plans. Hiccup walked over, giving Jolt a glance as he walked by.

"What's up?" asked Hiccup rather nonchalantly.

"We can't figure out what this symbol means," said Kyle, pointing to a mark on the paper which looked like two slashes across one of the support beams. The same slash came up on the piece just adjacent to it.

"Oh, I knew I forgot something when I made that legend," said Hiccup.

Jolt looked over at the plans and noticed that in the bottom right hand corner was a box titled 'legend' which contained all of the marks and symbols on the plans. Apparently, Hiccup had forgotten a mark.

"That means that these two pieces," Hiccup said, gesturing to the two beams marked by the double slashes, "are the same size. That's all."

"All right thanks Hiccup," said Kyle. He looked back toward Jolt, who had moved into the background as they had discussed the mark on the plans. "How are you doing son? I haven't seen you since you landed. Stoick told me that you were going to become a dragon trainer. Did you find a dragon that you like?"

Jolt was a little taken aback. He hadn't expected Stoick to have already filled him in on his recent activities with dragon training. He stood straighter and said confidently, "Yes, yes I did. Dad, I would like you to meet Spark." He gestured over to where Spark stood, and found that he had moved to right behind him.

At first, Kyle looked confused, as if his son had just pulled a prank on him. Then he started to loosen up, his bottom lip trembling. Not wanting to have anyone see him cry, he hardened his face into a scowl. How could his son do this to him? How could he bring back all those hurtful memories of his past? How could he befriend this beast that had killed his first wife?

Jolt saw the range of emotions cross his fathers face. He was scared now, since he had no idea what his father would say, as the range of emotions that had flashed across his face was so varied, that it could end in any number of ways.

Finally, after taking a deep breath, Kyle spoke. It was only one word, but that word contained so much emotion, sadness, anger, acceptance, and even a bit of disappointment that made Jolt cringe. "Why?"

"I don't know, I just found him in the woods all alone and hurt, so I helped him out, and then he saved my life. We're kind of attached to each other now. I saved his life, and he saved mine, that and our personalities _are _rather similar," said Jolt, hoping that his father would soften up.

Kyle took his time in responding, but Jolt saw his face start to loosen up slightly, even starting to form a ghost of a smile. "Well, if he saved my boy's life, I guess I can't hate him for that. But I don't want him in the house, you got it? He stays outside and away from me. Seeing him, it brings back too many painful memories." he choked up on that last bit, tearing up. He tried to hold back his tears, but it was too much. He started to cry, letting the tears fall down his cheeks in rivers.

Jolt knew the pain. He carried it with him every day, and it had reduced him to tears more than once in his lifetime. He had watched the skrill kill his mother. In fact, he had been in holding onto her when it happened. He had been grabbing onto her skirt when the strike hit her, and he had tried to catch her as she fell to the deck. He tried to wake her up, to snap her out of the seizures that wracked her body, but it was no use. She had shaken and shaken until she stopped and breathed her last. In her last moments, she had uttered theses words, "Fly, my Jolt. Fulfill your marvelous destiny." And then she passed on. He had never told anyone about that moment and those last words, but he carried them around with him, that cryptic last message from his mother.

He hugged his father, letting tears roll down his face as well. They stopped after about a minute, drying their eyes and hugging each other tighter. Jolt whispered in his father's ear, "This is a way to make things right again. It doesn't always have to be us against them." His father caught what he was trying to say, and grasped Jolt's hand firmly.

"You are truly becoming a wise man Jolt. Thank you," said Kyle. "Now leave, I need to finish this house."

Jolt knew that those words were not meant to be harsh and understood, leaving his father to his own devices. He walked with Hiccup for a while in silence. Eventually, Hiccup spoke up. "I'm sorry again, Jolt, about your mother."

"It's okay. I've moved on. Live in the moment, right?"

Hiccup could tell that neither he nor his father had moved on from the accident, but he knew it was a sensitive area, so he left it alone. Instead, he diverted the conversation to another topic, one he himself had been very curious about for a while.

"Jolt, how long have did that skrill follow you and your father?"

Jolt thought back. "It was probably about nine years ago, when one killed my mom. After that, they plagued us like a curse every time we sailed. Never attacking, but still there. Only one, always flitting at either the horizon or in any storm that hit us."

"Do you know why? And was it always the same dragon?"

"Yeah, it always was the same one, the same that killed my mom. I don't know why. It had a distinct mark on its underbelly. It was shaped somewhat like...a...lightning bolt," he said, trailing off slightly. Jolt was staring at Spark, who was sheepishly trying to hide his face in the woods. But that didn't stop Jolt seeing the distinct marking on his underbelly, the same as the one on the dragon that had killed his mother and that had plagued him and his father for years.

"Spark? Was that you that followed us? That killed my mother?"

If a dragon could look guilty, Spark sure did. _Yes, I was that dragon. As a a young skrill, we are usually kept at the nest until we can control our lightning. My nest mother died very early, so I had to look for food as a 'flare', the word we use for a young, uncontrolled skrill. Your ship was rich with food, so I tried to come in under the cover of the storm and take some. Your mother was the only one on deck besides you, and she was covered in metal armor. For some reason, my lightning is drawn to metal objects, and I felt myself lose control. I didn't mean to kill her Jolt, honest. I was so uncontrollable, even for a skrill. I still am, somewhat. My control is not what it should be, what with no parent to teach me. I followed you all those years because I felt something in you that attracted me like a moth to the flame. I couldn't stay away, no matter how hard I tried, and eventually we met. I knew at once that we were destined for each other, which is why I was so eager to be your friend. But until you found me, I was about to end my life. Dragons can control their heartbeat, even stopping it when they want to. I was about to stop my heart when you found me because I was so desperate. My life had no purpose, and I had lost sight of the only thing that made my life worth living, trying to find you and figure out what made you so special._

Jolt had to sit down and soak in all that he was saying. This dragon had been the cause of so much conflict, so much problems over his entire life, and it was only because he wanted to find him and see what was so special about him that attracted the dragon. It was a little too much to take in all at once.

Seeing Hiccup's look, Jolt filled him in on all that Spark had said. Hiccup could see that it had hit Jolt hard, and he tried to comfort his friend. They sat in silence until Jolt spoke up. "Well, this puts a whole new spin on my life. I forgive him for what he did, but still, it's hard to just move on from something like that."

Hiccup nodded, knowing full well what he meant. Hiccup had lost his mother at a very young age, when he was about six or seven. He remembered hearing his dad's screams and sobs when they dragged in his mother's body. She looked so tranquil, even in death. A nadder had pierced her with a spike and she had kept fighting, speeding the poison's effect until she just collapsed from the toxin. Hiccup had made a vow that day that he would kill every dragon that lived because of what they had done to his mother. How could they wrench her away from him like that? It just wasn't fair. Obviously, Hiccup broke his vow for the better when he met Toothless, and eventually changed the way that vikings viewed dragons. Now they were friends, loyal companions. He couldn't imagine life without his best friend friend the night fury. Hiccup decided to give Jolt some advice that his father had given him.

"I think the best thing is to not forget and move on, but to remember them and celebrate their life."

Jolt nodded. It was true. Trying to forget was too hard, but just accepting it, celebrating it even, made it much easier to bear.

"Now come on, I know something that will really cheer you up, dinner!" said Hiccup.

Jolt bounced up from his seat and practically ran to the Great Hall. Food always cheered him up. They grabbed their food and sat at the teen's table. As they were eating, Jolt heard one of the village elders, a woman, talking to some of the younger children.

"That's elder Varlene. She's the story teller of the village. All the little kid's love her," said Hiccup.

Jolt just nodded, barely paying what Varlene was saying, until she heard him say, " All right children, let me tell you the story of the Lighting Rider."

**Thank you to all of you who have read this story so far. This is my first, and I think it's coming together pretty well. I'm just as excited as you are to see where this goes. I have a vague idea, but I mostly use whatever comes to mind. It's worked in the past and I think it's working in this story. I'm an eager writer, and I have a lot of free time, so I'll usually update every two or three days. Thank you to all of my faithful reader!**


	8. The Legend

Chapter 8: The Legend

Jolt listened intently as elder Varlene began the tale.

"Legend has it that long, long ago, there lived a man. He was a mid-sized man, neither very tall and strong nor very small and weak. He lived in a village much like ours is today, where the people were at peace with the dragons. He was the son of a well-known warrior, and he was expected to fulfill his role as a major and influential warrior. But this boy was different. He had no skill with fighting at all, but he was smart, genius even. His father never understood him, but they got along.

Now it was standard tradition that when a boy turned 16, he would choose a dragon to befriend, and they would become lifelong companions. There was a special bonding process that every boy went through that linked the dragon and rider as one. It was a special right of passage, and the boy was only too thrilled to go through with the ceremony, but there was just one problem.

Whenever the boy tried to pick a dragon that would fit him, they all shied away from him or attacked him. It was like his personality repelled the other dragons. The boy started to get depressed, feeling that he would never find a soul mate that would be his companion for life. He searched through so many of the dragon species, but none seemed to like him.

On the day before the bonding ceremony, the were was a massive electrical storm. The storm moved in quickly, forcing everyone to stay inside during the storm. Now the boy loved storms like these, and stood out on one of the large hills that overlooked the village. He reveled at the feeling of the lightning in the air and the rain on his lips. Storms were what he lived for, what made him feel alive.

As he was enjoying the storm, a being appeared out of the clouds and attacked the boy, shooting him with so much lightning energy that he could no longer stand. It was the skrill, the untrainable son of storms themselves. At once, the boy knew that it was his dragon. It contained so much raw power and majesty with a sense of intelligence that was awe-inspiring. Once he got over the shock of being shot with lightning, he stood to his feet and faced the being of the storm.

The skrill was confused, as none before had been able to stand up to the might of one of his lightning blasts. There was something different about that boy that intrigued him. The skrill investigated the boy, touching down near him. The boy approached the skrill fearlessly, hand outstretched, with his other palm over his hear, a symbol of trust and friendship.

The skrill was intrigued again. Who was this boy to try and befriend him, the monster of the storms? But eventually, curiosity got the better of the skrill and he touched the boy's hand with his snout, the traditional symbol of acceptance of friendship. The boy was elated. He had found a dragon to bond with, a dragon that was like himself in many ways.

When the pair reached the village, there was many shouts from the villagers to grab their weapons and assault the skrill, the very essence of evil. The boy managed to calm the villagers down, explaining to them that the skrill was a peaceful dragon that meant no harm. The villagers believed him and accepted the dragon as one of their own.

The bonding ceremony came the next day. The village elder presided over the ceremony. The elder started a fire and threw in various magical herbs, turning the smoke a vivid blue color. The boy and the dragon both breathed in the smoke as the elder began chanting in a strange tongue. Suddenly, something went horribly wrong. The bonding ceremony, meant to solidify the friendship between rider and dragon and allow them to sense each other went a little to far. The energy of the skrill overwhelmed the boy, and he collapsed onto the ground. The dragon, now linked with the boy, collapsed also.

The village elder woke them with pungent herbs. When they woke up though, they were not truly the same. At first everything seemed fine, and the village elder put the fainting to simply a case of nerves and nothing more.

As the weeks progressed, however, strange things started to happen. The once slow and awkward boy was now able to handle weapons with ease and agility that no man had ever seen before. He was able to speak to dragons, and he was able to shoot lightning bolts out of his fingertips. The villagers were scared of the boy and his new powers. They blamed the dragon, claiming that it had changed the boy, cursing him with its evil magic. The boy tried to protect the dragon, but it was to no avail. The villagers tried to attack the dragon, but the boy protected him with lightning and thunder.

The two escaped into the night. The boy lived as a hermit on a neighboring island. All was well, and the villagers soon forgot the two. Soon, though, pirates from the south attacked the village, and the villagers were powerless against them. Suddenly, out of the dark night sky, there was a screech and a flash of lightning and thunder. It was the boy and the skrill! They attacked the pirates who were so mercilessly destroying their old home. The rode the lightning, following its path towards the pirates and their ships. After a long battle, the boy and the dragon touched down on the beach, where they were met by the cheering villagers.

They were celebrated with a feast that lasted for weeks. They were praised and adored, and the boy became known as 'The Lightning Rider' for his courage and strength riding the most powerful dragon in existence. Legend also has it that all of his descendants after him inherited the same connection to the skrill that the boy had, giving his family power and strength."

A little boy in the group raised his hand. "What was the boys name?"

The elder thought for a moment. "The boy's name was Skall Hawkson.

Jolt gasped. That was his last name! That and the story seemed to have a strange coincidence to his own. He caught Hiccup's eye, and he knew that Hiccup felt the same way. There was too much coincidence there for it to be just a myth.

After dinner, when everyone had already left, Jolt and Hiccup approached the elder.

"That was an amazing story you told tonight," said Jolt.

Elder Varlene smiled. "Yes it was. One of the more whimsical legends that I've collected over my many years."

"Where did you pick it up?" asked Hiccup.

"I picked it up from a friend of mine that I met on one of my many visits around the islands. It seemed to be very familiar with the story, and he was very involved in it."

"Do you think that the legend could be true?" asked Jolt.

The elder didn't know that Jolt had befriended Spark. She frowned. "It could be possible, but I don't know. It seems a little fantastical, if you ask me. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious, you know. I've always loved old legends, and I wanted to know if that one was at all true because it seems so cool," said Jolt.

They said goodbye and left the Great Hall, heading back to Hiccup's house. The two didn't talk, but they were both thinking the same thing. That legend _had_ to be true. There was just too much coincidence. But what would they do about it?


	9. New Discoveries

Chapter 9: New Discoveries

Hiccup was the first to get up, and while he sat around waiting for Jolt to wake up, he began to think. Snoggletog, the annual viking winter holiday, was fast approaching. Hiccup was already working on gifts for most of friends, mostly either new weapons or drawings of them and their dragon, which they thoroughly enjoyed. Being the only artist in town besides Bucket (and being much more mentally sound), many enjoyed his art for its rare and beautiful quality. He was already working on a picture for Jolt, but Hiccup felt that it wasn't enough. Jolt was the first real friend that Hiccup had that actually was...like him. Astrid was...well...Astrid, and the others were his friends, but they weren't like him, and they didn't know him like Jolt did. Hiccup wanted his gift to Jolt for the holidays to be unique and exciting, but nothing sprang to mind. He wracked his brain, but nothing came.

Hiccup looked over to Toothless, who was awake. Hiccup gave Toothless a look, and Toothless knew what he was thinking about. Somehow, the two of them were so close that they knew what the other was thinking before they even said it. Not being able to speak, they had their own set of symbols and gestures that meant certain things, but mostly is was just reading body language and in innate knowledge of what the other was thinking.

Toothless made a few gestures and stared back at Toothless. He was trying to offer an idea, but Hiccup knew that it would never work. Toothless was offering that Hiccup make Jolt a saddle, but Jolt already had one, and a spanking good one at that. No, they had to think of something else. Maybe something to help him control his new powers? That would be neat, but he had no idea what would work or how he would go about it. He and Toothless shared ideas, but nothing good came.

Finally, after what felt like forever, Jolt and Spark woke up. They threw on their clothes in a groggy daze, stumbling out the door after Hiccup and Toothless. They went out for a morning fly, taking their sweet old time and perusing around the islands.

When it was time for breakfast, the two went to the Great Hall and ate heartily. After breakfast, Jolt offered to have Hiccup come with him down to the cove to try out his new powers. Hiccup was tempted, he wanted to see more of Jolt's powers in action, maybe even see how they work so he could make him a gift, but he had something else he needed to do.

Jolt looked a little disappointed, but he still left to go to the cove after breakfast. Hiccup however, walked to the far side of the village where Elder Varlene lived. The legend that Hiccup had heard the other night had shaken him a little bit, and he wanted to know more. Also, he wanted to ask her about the legend that Jolt had mentioned, the legend of the maelstrom. He knew that it existed, hell, he had witnessed it, but he wanted to hear what the legends said. And who better to ask than the keeper of legend, Elder Varlene.

He approached the large house, and walked inside. He never got tired of that place, the books piled high against every wall, the smell of paper and ink that filled the air. It had become something of the town's library, but seeing as many of the villagers were either illiterate or simply didn't care about reading, no one really went there. That is, except Hiccup, who had done extensive research within those walls on weaponry, dragons, and history. Elder Varlene loved Hiccup, as he was one of the only teens that appreciated her art, besides the children. (and Gobber. He always loved a good yarn, spinning many that had become popular legends all on their own.)

The elder was in her usual place beside the massive fireplace, warming herself against the wintry chill outside. It was the middle of winter after all, and the only way to survive was to stay warm. Hiccup sighed, mentally reciting a small joke he had once made about the weather of Berk, "Berk, the only island where you can freeze your hand off walking from your house to the Great Hall in summer time." It wasn't quite true, of course, as summers were usually milder, but still, it was apt. The weather there was cold for almost all of the year, with a month or two in the middle where it warmed up. Most adjusted to it, but Hiccup, with his low reserves of body fat and muscle, had no natural insulation, so he usually had to bundle up.

Elder Varlene smiled as Hiccup walked in. Hiccup approached the elderly woman and drew up a chair.

"What is it you need Hiccup? You look like you're just bursting with questions," said the elder.

Hiccup smiled. It was usually true, and it seemed like he was the only one who ever had questions around there. He was inquisitive, and nothing could keep him from figuring out the answers to all of his questions.

"I do have several, but I'll start with this one. Have you ever heard of the legend of the maelstrom?"

The elder nodded. "I have heard that one, but only once. It is a rare legend, one that I had the liberty of taking down, with loads of documentation and notes. There's a book with a section about it right there," she said pointing toward a thickly bound book with a blue cover on it. Many of the books looked similar, the color's mostly representing the dragon or person the legends and facts it contained were about. Hiccup had never touched the blue book he now held, but when he looked at the cover, he knew exactly what dragon it was about.

The cover depicted a skrill in mid flight, flinging sparks off of it in all directions. It was truly a majestic picture, but Hiccup could see where the artist had made some mistakes with drawing the skrill. It's tail was not the right shape, containing a tail fin like Toothless, where Spark had only a smooth tail bristling with spikes. The head was also slightly misshapen, but Hiccup put that down to artistic ineptitude.

He opened it to the first chapter and read the facts about the dragon. A similar set of notes and figures was in the Book of Dragons, but the one in this blue book had not been updated recently. It was interesting to see the facts that were in it, especially after seeing a real one and seeing how skewed some of the data was. He started reading.

'The skrill. This reclusive dragon is found only during electrical storms, and has known to shoot bursts of white fire. This dragon is extremely dangerous and lethal, and should be killed on sight. It is pure evil, the living embodiment of the storm, bred by the gods to send punishment on sailors who have displeased the god. The skrill is also capable of shooting of lightning bolts from its side, and is extremely attracted to metal objects. You can protect yourself from the skrill's energy by covering yourself not with armor, but with leather. Never approach this dragon, and kill from a distance if possible. '

Hiccup snorted. That made sense at least. Vikings been plagued by this dragon for years, and much like the night fury, it had achieved a level of fear and awe, and since most vikings had never seen it, many legends had sprung up over the years about its origin and its methods. The description and drawing the book gave though was close to the real thing, leading Hiccup to believe that the writer had seen the dragon in person.

He continued to read, but he skipped over most of the chapters because they contained many meaningless myths and legends. When he found the chapter he was looking for, he took a deep breath and read.

'The Maelstrom. A fearsome explosion of two of the most powerful forces in existence from tow of the most reclusive dragons in existence, the lightning of a skrill and the plasma flame of a night fury. The ferocious combination fire and ice cold lightning creates an explosion large enough to decimate a small town. The forces repel each other to such an extent that when they are forced together they simply explode with the force of the gods themselves. It has only been witnessed two times in all of time and has left whole islands in ashes. It does seem that the force of the explosion depends on the power of the skrill and the night fury, as a weaker and younger skrill and night fury created the second explosion that was not all as powerful as the first one, but much is still not known about this phenomenon.'

Hiccup gasped. How had they all survived? If this was the force that was supposed to destroy whole towns, and they had survived? How? Hiccup continued looking through the book, and he came upon the legend of the lightning rider.

The legend was essentially the same, but there was something else in it that scared him a little bit. The pirates were still there, but there was something else as well. Some other evil was attacking the village, something that Varlene never mentioned.

There was another rider, an evil rider that rode on a skrill that fired bolts of black fire and black lightning, a being so evil that it's mere presence was known to drive men insane. The legend said that he had been defeated, but not killed. The descendants of this evil rider and dragon were evil people, intent on finding the descendants of the lightning rider and kill them mercilessly. The evil rider, a boy from the same village and the same age as Skall, and his name was Alan Rockaway. He was known as the Dark Rider. Hiccup gasped again. Alvin the Treacherous was a Rockaway! Could that explain why Alvin had always had it out for Berk? But then again, Alvin had attacked Berk before for different reasons, mostly to try and grab Hiccup to try and train dragons. If he found out that the rival of his family of legends was on Berk, would he redouble his efforts at conquest? Hiccup needed to tell Jolt about this.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the island, Jolt was in the cove practicing his powers. He had set up targets on the cliff to fire at, and he was also aiming at some dry timber to see if he could light it. At first, he couldn't seem to get the tension to build up when he wanted it to. It seemed to come in flashes all on its own, and Jolt had no control over it at all. He tried and tried, but he just couldn't get the tension and pressure that triggered his powers to build up.

After about an hour of trying, he took a break. He rested against a rock, eating a bite of food he had brought. He sighed.

_Can't seem to get it? I know it's hard at first, but you just need to focus. As a young skrill, I too had to work on focusing my lightning too. It takes concentration, but with practice, it becomes simple. Let me help you_, said Spark.

"All right. I really need to get used to you talking. I just haven't adjusted to it yet.

_Fair enough. Now hold my side. It'll help._

Jolt reluctantly agreed, placing his left hand on Spark's side. Suddenly, a surge of power flowed through him, like liquid energy washing over him. He reveled in it, letting it fill him up. All of a sudden, the surge stopped.

"What happened?" asked a confused Jolt.

_I lost control for a second. I am able to regulate the lightning that flows across my body, and it can be used to do several different things. One of them is communicate telepathically with my rider. _

Jolt realized that the voice had sounded different, more like it was inside his head than hearing it in his ears.

_Several other things that can be done with this energy is throw lighting bolts and levitate and attract metal objects. The key is to regulate the energy that flows across the surface of your skin. Because of the changing, you are now a part of me, and I am a part of you, so my powers are yours and yours are mine. Your powers will work just like mine, and since you are now a part of me, you can understand me. But back to the topic at hand. Concentrate on letting the energy inside of you out slowly, in one spot, and aim it mentally at the spot you want to hit. It may take some time and a lot of energy, but I'll help you. _

Jolt nodded. He closed his eyes, putting out his right hand. He held his right hand out, focusing on letting the energy out slowly. It seemed to be easier this time, and the tension started to build across the palm of his hand. He risked a glance at his hand and saw the lightning energy rippling across his skin. He stared at the target, focusing on it with all of his will. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning flew from his hand, striking the target right in the center. The force of the blast made his hand fly backwards from the energy.

"Wow, that packs a punch!"

_I know right? You need to brace yourself for it. I was able to give you a little but of support, but most of that was you. You are advancing at an amazing rate. It seems that the bond we have is stronger than we thought. You certainly became me more than I thought. The changing does work in mysterious ways._

You have mentioned that before, what is this...this changing thing."

_I thought you were going to ask that. The changing is a rare and fantastic transformation that can occur between dragons and also between humans and dragons. The changing occurs when a dragon and a dragon, or a dragon and a human, save each other's lives in an act of love and friendship. It has to be powerful feeling, something moving and...powerful. You saved me when you befriended me in the forest. I was about to let myself die in shame and pain, but you came, and in a powerful act of friendship, you befriended the one dragon who was only tamed once before. I saved you then when I healed your mortal wounds in the healer's hut. A skrill can only heal another when there is a powerful force behind it. My healing you finished the changing, and from that moment on, you became part of me, and I became part of you. The exchange allows us to communicate, and you can use my powers as well. I know how you think and what you're planning on doing next. Believe me, it's very useful to have. If you concentrate, you can understand what I'm planning on doing next too. _

Jolt sat down. It was a lot to take in. He looked down at his scarred hand. When he looked at the scar more closely, he saw that it was actually scales, not his own skin. He looked over at Spark, and noticed that he had a lightning shaped scar on his right wing, just below the claw, that looked to be made of his skin, not Spark's scales. What they had was special, touching really, but hard to comprehend. Then Jolt recalled something that Spark had brought up before.

"Spark, you said that Hiccup and I _both_ survived the changing. Does that mean that Hiccup has powers like me?"

_No, he doesn't, at least not like you do. He does have a sense of understanding with his friend Toothless, but they can't communicate verbally, at least not yet. His powers have not truly awakened yet, but they will with time. In truth, I have no idea what he'll be able to do. The night fury is as mush a mystery to you as it is to me, so your guess is as good as mine._

"Do you think we should tell him?"

_No, let's show him. I'm sure I can coax the power out of him, just one of the perks of possessing lightning power, you can probe people's minds._

"Really? Can I do that?"  
_I don't think so. You didn't inherit all of my power, but you got a lot of it. I don't believe mind reading was part of it._

"Bummer. Ah well, back to practicing."

He practiced using his new powers for a while until he got tired. He sat down on a stone by the pond. Man, using that power was exhausting. It took a lot of energy to focus like that, and he knew that the energy for the blast also came from him, so that took a lot out of him too. He grabbed his Switchblade from his pocket, and he grabbed a small wood carving from his pack.

He inspected it in the light. If there was one skill that Jolt had that he could do really well, it was wood carving. His father had sold several of his carvings for some pretty hefty prices, and those weren't even the good ones. He made many as gifts, and this one was for one person in particular. Hiccup. He had been Jolt's best friend since they had both met each other, I mean, as close as you can be when you see each other for weeks at a time. But still, with adjusting to his new life on Berk, Hiccup had always been there for him, and Jolt was grateful.

Jolt had decided to carve Hiccup a pendant as a Snoggletog gift. It was something simple, yet complex and intricate. It was going to look masterful, but Jolt was still only in the process of carving it. He carved for a few minutes, and then put the carving back in his pack. He tested the edge of Switchblade with his thumb to see if it was still sharp. It was, and Jolt winced a little at the cut.

Suddenly, his hand started sparking again.

"It must be from the pain. It broke my control."

He was about to stop it when he noticed that the energy from his hand seemed to flow across the metal, causing bolts of lightning to leap across the blade. Jolt had an idea, a crazy idea, but he had to try it.

Jolt stood up, extending Switchblade to it's short sword form. He made sure he was touching the pommel of the sword, lighting the whole blade up with electricity. He focused on the target, and instead of sending the energy for the blast through his hand, he sent it through the cold hard steel in his hand. A bolt of lightning leapt from the blade, striking the target right in the center. In fact, it was even more powerful than it had been, considering how tired Jolt was. Just to see, he let off another equally powerful bolt at another target, but it didn't have nearly the same effect.

Now that was interesting. Apparently the metal amplified his powers, making them more focused and more controlled. He had to tell Hiccup all about what he learned, about the changing, his powers, everything.

He whistled to Spark, who flew over from his perch. Jolt jumped up perfectly, landing on Spark without him so much as missing a wing beat.

"Now let's find Hiccup and tell him all that we've learned."


	10. An Exchange of Secrets

Chapter 10: An Exchange of Secrets

Hiccup and Jolt nearly ran into each other on their dragons, causing Hiccup to fall off of Toothless. Except, it almost looked like he jumped off of Toothless before he fell. Hiccup and Toothless both fell headfirst through the clouds toward the ground. Hiccup looked positively gleeful as he fell. He started to do flips and spins through the air as he fell. Jolt almost raced after the two of them, but he thought better of it. He knew Hiccup, and he knew that he wouldn't just do something reckless like that. He had to have a plan.

Just as they were approaching the ground, Hiccup spun himself closer to Toothless, and he clicked his fake leg into the stirrup. They pulled up quickly, coasting just above the tree line. Jolt had to admit, it looked fun. Jolt gave Spark a look. Before he said it, he knew the answer.

_Of course Jolt. Do you even have to ask._

Jolt grinned. He braced himself, and jumped off of Spark's back. They flew down at breakneck speed. It was exhilarating, free falling faster than what would otherwise be possible. They flew down together, Jolt doing a few tricks for fun. They pulled together before they hit the ground. They pulled up, skimming the tree tops. Jolt and Spark shot off a bolt of lightning in unison, firing it into the sky. The bolts combined into one white hot bolt of power that exploded in a brilliant flash.

"Yeah!" screamed Jolt in pure ecstasy.

"Hey, nice job. I almost died in my first free fall, it was kind of accidental, but still, your first fall was...graceful to say the least. Let's land. I have something to tell you," said Hiccup.

"And I have something to tell you. To the cove?" asked Jolt.

Hiccup nodded, and they flew off toward the cove. They raced there, and Toothless won by a good length, but Jolt was sure that if they had been able to prime up a lightning bolt before hand, they would have won by a huge margin.

They landed and dismounted their dragons. Both boys had so much to say that they were practically bursting.

"You first!" they both screamed at once.

"Alright you first," said Hiccup.

Jolt began to explain his discoveries.

"So, I've been working on practicing my powers, and I've been getting pretty good. Watch."

Jolt held out his hand and fired a quick bolt at the target that was on the wall of the cove. The target exploded into pieces.

"Wow, impressive. What else do you have?" asked Hiccup.

"Well it seems like the lightning energy that Spark and I possess can be concentrated in metal objects, in fact it amplifies it amazingly. Watch this."

Jolt grabbed Switchblade and flicked it into its short sword position. He fired a bolt through the blade and exploded the last shield into dust.

"Wow, that's powerful. It could be useful to know that metal amplifies your powers," said Hiccup. He scratched his chin in thought. Maybe this would be a good gift to Jolt. He had to think about it more.

"There is one more thing. It applies to you particularly. There is this one rare event called the changing. It happens when a dragon and a dragon or a a dragon and a human save each others lives with a purpose of friendship and love. It has to be meaningful, an exchange of life saving that has purpose and meaning and power. This causes the two to become part of each other. This scar on my hand is actually made of small bits of skrill scales. Spark has a similar scar on his rear paw that is made of human skin. He is part of me, allowing me to use his skills and powers, and I am part of him, which allows us to communicate and also share thoughts. He has taken a part of my personality too, which is a little annoying at times, but still. Do you have any scars or marks that showed up after Toothless saved you?" asked Jolt.

Hiccup forgot that Jolt had heard his story. He thought back to after the accident. No new scars or marks had showed up, except... He looked down at his right hand. There was a black circular mark on the top of his palm. It was small, he almost hadn't even noticed it, but when he looked at it, it did seem to be made of scales. Black scales. It had always been hard, but he never thought that it might be made of scales.

"Um, yeah, there is. It's small, but it does seem to be made of scales. Night fury scales. Do you think that maybe I went through the changing too?"

"So Spark tells me. He also says that you have powers, just like me, but yours haven't awakened quite yet. I don't know why. Spark, a little help."

Spark nodded. He approached Hiccup and motioned for Hiccup to place his hand on him. Hiccup slowly placed his hand on Spark's side.

_Now just relax and close your eyes_, said Spark.

Hiccup was surprised that he could hear him. That was something only Jolt could do, right? He didn't know, but he obeyed, closing his eyes.

There was darkness behind his eyes, as there always was, but this time it was different. Shapes began to appear. Light started to filter into his vision, and he jumped back as another body came into view. And then he realized that when he moved, the darkness around him didn't. In fact, he felt as if he were in another body, as if he felt two bodies at once. The light level grew, and soon he saw that he was in fact in his own body, his own full body, and not just his eyes. It was as if he had been transported into another world. He soon saw that he was not alone. The form of a skrill started to take shape in front of him. Soon, Spark stood before him.

_Ah yes, the mindscape. A place where dragons can go to meet each other and plan ahead without actually meeting each other. It is also useful as it allows us access to the other's mind, which is useful for what I am doing here._

Suddenly, another form started to take shape next to Hiccup. A black shape that was very familiar. Soon, Toothless was standing right next to Hiccup.

Toothless gave a growl to Spark

_What do you think you're doing with my human, you useless old butterfly?!_, said Toothless with a very audible sound. He sounded like he was extremely angry.

Hiccup was surprised by Toothless's voice. It was deep, but melodic, as if someone were playing a base to words.

_Oh lay off, you hider in the night. I am simply helping your human realize his true potential through the changing. Or have you forgotten all about the changing, my dark little friend. _

_ Of course I remember. I hid him from the changing for his own protection, _said Toothless.

_Well, whatever fills your wings. _

_ At least let me help my own human. Opening him up will also open me up too, you do realize that?_

Spark nodded his assent. Toothless walked right next to Hiccup.

_All right Hiccup, hold on. This could get a little creepy, but hold on. _

Hiccup cautiously placed his hand on Toothless's side. All of a sudden, Hiccup felt as if something was poking at his brain from the inside. He held his temple with his other hand. The uncomfortable pressure grew and grew. He closed his eyes, and he saw what was really happening. \

There was a dark shape flitting around the inside of his eyelids. The dark object seemed to be looking for something. He didn't know what. Soon, though, he started to see a light, a light that grew with intensity and brilliance with each second. It was right where his brain would be, and the light solidified itself into a ball of light about the size of a melon. The dark object found this light orb.

_Ah, finally. I was afraid I'd never find it. It's larger than I thought. Time to bring this baby to light. _

The dark shape shifted the orb, and it started to move its way toward Hiccup's eyes. The orb hit where he felt his eyes were, and he gasped. He felt as if his brain had just been wrenched from its spot in his head, spun around, and put back in, but not in the right place. It felt weird, unnatural.

Hiccup opened his eyes. Toothless looked right back at him. They both gasped. Toothless's eyes were glowing a deep, dark green, as were Hiccup's. Hiccup thought back to Jolt. He too had glowing eyes at times. Could he too have powers?

_Alright Hiccup, it's time to wake up and see what you can do_, said Toothless.

Hiccup opened his eyes, and the real world came rushing back. He felt slightly faint, grabbing his head as he tried to sit down, only to find that he was already seated. Hiccup saw Toothless and Spark looking at him anxiously.

He put his hand down from his head, only to find it that it was ablaze in a violet fire. He yelled, jumping back and falling into the pond. A hiss broke out as the flames on his arms turned the water around him to steam. Strangely, though, his arms were still on fire. He leapt out of the water, swinging them around like crazy, trying to put them out. After a good five minutes, the flames died down.

Hiccup looked over at Jolt and the dragons and saw that they were all on the ground dying of laughter. Jolt was pounding the ground, hooting with laughter while Toothless and Spark were doing their best imitation of laughter, more of a mix between a chortle and growl. Hiccup just glared at them playfully.

"Oh come one, can't you help a guy out. I thought I was dying there," said Hiccup.

Jolt recovered just enough to respond. "Yeah but, hahaha, you face was just, oh god, it was just too good. I, hahaha, couldn't stop..." he said before bursting out into laughter again. He managed to pull himself together, but it took a while. Hiccup's face had just been too priceless to pass up. If only Hiccup could have seen it himself.

When Jolt managed to control himself, they began to discuss Hiccup's new powers.

"So...I can use fire. That's what I've got?"

_Indeed. The changing allows each individual to become part of the other, so you inherited fire skills from me. Jolt over there got the lightning from his pal, Spark,_ said a voice that sounded vaguely familiar.

"Toothless? Is that you bud?" asked Hiccup tentatively.

_It is my good friend. I've wanted to talk to you for so long, but I prevented the changing from enacting_ _to protect you. With all the enemies that you face, I wanted to hide it for as long as possible so as to make you seem like less of a target, but you already were a pretty big target, seeing your reputation with dragons. I happened to act fast enough to contain it, but it was...difficult to say the least. The power was just bursting to break free, but I had to hide it. I couldn't see you hurt again, not like last time._

Hiccup nodded in understanding. It certainly explained the random headaches that he had been experiencing every since his battle with the Red Death. He had always figured that he had gotten a simple concussion, but the headaches hadn't gone away. He realized also that his headache he'd had all morning had stopped, and he felt like he could think clearly for the first time in months.

He couldn't help it, but he looked down at his hands and arms. They were unharmed from the flames that had consumed them earlier. His skin started to tingle, and flames began to dance again across the surface. It was almost fluid, this fire, and it danced around him in a rhythmic fashion. Before long, his whole body was consumed in the violet flame, and he just stood in it, looking at himself as he was consumed with flames without harm. He held out his hand, and concentrated on placing all the fire that consumed him in that hand. The flames raced from all over his body and collected themselves in a large sphere in the center of his hand. It was about the size of a dragon egg, and perfectly spherical. He gazed at it for a minute before flinging it at a shard of a target that lay on the ground. It exploded in a violet flash, the pulse of energy too much for the flimsy wood.

The fire died, and Hiccup looked back to the group. Jolt and the dragons just stood with their mouths agape, obviously amazed at the level of control that Hiccup had mastered in the first few minutes of using his powers.

"You know, if you keep your mouths open long enough, you'll start catching flies," said Hiccup sarcastically.

Jolt and the dragons promptly shut their mouths, but Hiccup could still see a sense of wonder in his eyes.

"Your powers are amazing! That was incredible the amount of control you had with that fire," said Jolt.

"I know. I felt as if it were a part of me, dictated just by a simple thought. You know what I mean?"

"I do. I feel the same way with my lightning. It's like another limb. But we also need to work out that muscle in order to strengthen it. I think we'll call it a day here, but how about we agree to meet up here after lunch when we can to practice. These kind of powers could be useful, especially with Alvin growing more and more bold. We can't tell anyone, obviously, or else we'd be kicked off the island, labeled as freaks. So what do you say, do we have a deal," said Jolt sticking out his hand.

"It's a deal," said Hiccup reaching out to shake Jolt's hand.

Neither of them noticed that their powers flared up right before they touched. When they shook hands, a blue ball formed around their hands, growing and growing until it exploded in a massive blue-violet flash of light.

**I know, cliffhanger ending. But hey, I've got to spice it up. Anyway, thank you to all of you who have reviewed my story so far, especially Superfan44. I love getting feedback on my writing, and I will take listen to any tips and ideas I get and consider them. I won't say they'll be worked into the story, but please review. I'll update as soon as I can, which may be in a few days, or maybe a few hours, who knows. **


	11. Suspicions and Accusations

Chapter 11: Suspicions and Accusations

The force of the explosion blew Hiccup and Toothless backward violently in one direction, and Jolt and Spark flew away in the other. They tumbled through the air, but surprisingly, both of the boys landed on their hands and toes, in an almost crawling position. The blast had thrown them backward, but somehow they had been able to stick the landing. It was as if their bodies had simply reacted to the situation and pulled them out of it safely with out getting thrown into the hard cove walls.

Jolt and Hiccup looked up at each other from their crouched positions. Both of their eyes were glowing intensely, Hiccup's the dark green and Jolt's the electric blue. What had just happened? They stood up, dusting themselves off. Jolt gave Hiccup a questioning look. They both thought for a minute, and then said in unison, "The maelstrom."

Of course. It made sense. The two had inherited the abilities of their dragons, so if their powers collided, they would create the maelstrom.

"Man, that thing has got some kick to it. I wonder if there could be a way to harness that much raw, explosive power," said Hiccup, with a thoughtful grin on his face.

"Yeah, I mean, I'm surprised I was able to stick the landing. I was expecting to have to take another trip to the healer's hut after such a blast like that."

"I know what you mean. It was like my body acted without my consent, moving in ways that I've never moved before to land that. It was the weirdest feeling," said Hiccup with a shiver.

"But what makes it so powerful? And what was with that ball of energy that formed before it exploded?" asked Jolt.

"Well, if my research is correct, and I'm sure the dragons will correct me if I'm wrong, but the maelstrom is so powerful because it combines two of the most powerful forces in the universe. They also happen to be opposites, ice cold lightning and blazing hot fire. The two forces are forced together when fired at each other, forcing them to mix. This creates the ball that grows and grows before the blast. Eventually, the forces repel each other so much that they cannot exist in the same place, and violently detach from each other, exploding. Am I right?"

_Spot on. It is the most powerful explosion ever known to man or dragon, and to have survived it twice, it's nothing short of a miracle. The maelstrom is meant to kill the weaker dragon, as each dragon is immune to his portion of the explosion, so if one dragon pours more into the maelstrom, then they have a greater chance of survival. Of course, both of those explosions have been mild, low powered compared to the true maelstrom. This forms when both a skrill and a night fury use their fire and lightning to full extent of their abilities. This explosion can completely destroy whole islands, and also creates a wild swirling storm, fueled by the skrill's lightning energy and the fire power of a night fury. This has only every happened once in recorded history, in fact it happened between our fathers_, said Spark, glaring at Toothless.

_I'll never forgive your father for what he did to mine. He knew that it would happen, and he wanted only to destroy my father and make himself rightful ruler_, said Toothless growling at Spark.

_You know that that's not true. My father was simply protecting himself from your father, who attacked him first. My father never wanted the throne. Your father was a good king, but he destroyed himself and my father in the maelstrom._

"Wait a minute, Toothless, your father was a king?" asked Hiccup.

_Indeed. He was the ruler of the midnight clan, a clan full of night furies. Spark's father was the king of the strikers clan, a clan full of skrills. There is a reason that the maelstrom exists. It is to keep us night furies separate from those skrills, whose only wish is the extermination of our race_, said Toothless.

_That's not true! You attacked us too, intent on wiping us out. The battle that raged there left almost every night fury and skrill in the clans dead to the maelstrom, except for those who were smart enough not to engage in the maelstrom. Now we'll be luck y to even find a mate. It is both of our faults, what happened. _

_ Fair. Shall we call a truce, for the betterment of both of our species_, proposed Toothless.

Spark accepted by nodding his head. He couldn't risk Jolt's life with this pesky little feud that had been raging between the two of them for so many years. If it meant that Jolt could be injured in the feud, than it was just not worth it.

Spark thought about that. He never thought in a million years that he would find a human companion. He had always hated the humans, and they had hated him and his kind, but he had never imagined that he would befriend one. That boy Hiccup was a brave soul to befriend the one dragon about as powerful as the skrill, which was the night fury. Even he, the mighty skrill, didn't know everything about him. He was an enigma alright, but then so was Hiccup, and so was Jolt.

"Alright well, let's go home. People will start wondering where we've been," said Hiccup.

They both mounted their dragons, flying off into the sky. They flew around in fantastic patterns in the air above Berk before setting down near the village center. They jumped off of their dragons and were greeted by a crowd of cheering vikings. Apparently their aerobatics show had not gone unnoticed. They both took a bow, along with the dragons. The crowd dispersed, and it was just Jolt and Hiccup left in the square.

Soon, thought, they saw Astrid running across the square. She tackled Hiccup to the ground, or at least went to until Hiccup dodged out of the way. Astrid picked herself up and charged him again, but he stood his ground, and Astrid ran full force into what felt like a wall of iron. She picked herself up again and cautiously hugged Hiccup.

"Where have you been? I was looking for you everywhere!" said Astrid, sounding genuinely concerned.

"We were just hanging out over at the cove. Can't two guys ever just hang out anymore? Is it my problem that I've finally found a friend that's just like me?" said Hiccup jokingly but still sounding sincere.

"There's no problem, in fact I'm glad that you found a friend like you, but you can't just go disappearing on me like that. It spooks me, and I keep thinking that Alvin has carried you off of something."

Hiccup smirked. "Oh come on Astrid, have a little faith in your man."

Astrid reeled back a little bit. Hiccup had never referred to Astrid as his girlfriend, even indirectly. It was just such a strange and bold move that was somewhat very Hiccup-like.

Astrid punched him in the arm. "All right, but don't go disappearing on me. I don't want to lose you, not like I thought I did last time."

It was true. After Hiccup's fight with the Red Death, Hiccup had fallen into a coma for over a week. Astrid feared that he would never wake up. She could never go through that again, so she had made it her mission to protect him, even though he rarely needed protection with Toothless by his side. Astrid had her own nadder, Stormfly, to worry about, although she too rarely needed protection from anything, besides the occasional mud puddle.

Hiccup patted Astrid on the back. "Come on, let's go get something to eat. I know I'm famished, and I'm pretty sure you are too."

Astrid agreed, pushing his hand away from her shoulder. His hand felt extremely hot, almost like it would erupt into flames. She dropped it quickly, causing Hiccup to stumble slightly. She looked at her hand and saw that it was slightly burned.

"What was that?! Your arm is burning up! Are you feeling okay?" screamed Astrid.

Hiccup cursed. He looked at his arm, and saw that small flames were flickering over it. He put them out immediately, and luckily Astrid didn't see anything. He came up with a cover story on the fly, something he was remarkably good at.

"Oh, you know, I was just flying really high with Toothless and standing in the sun all day, so my arm got a little bit hot. No big deal," said Hiccup, trying to sound very nonchalant.

"Hiccup, it's winter, and even if it weren't, you're hand should never get that hot. Can you even feel anything?"

"Yeah, it feels fine. I don't know why you're worrying so much. Now let's grab something to eat."

They proceeded to walk over to the Great Hall, where they tucked in greedily to a meal of smocked cod and potatoes, the new vegetable brought to Berk by the Bog Burglar Tribe of all people. The plant had taken root well in the hard Berk soil, and the vegetable was delicious, especially mashed with a large dollop of butter.

While they ate, Fishlegs went on his usual tirade about some dragon that Jolt had never heard about, Snotlout was talking about himself, the twins were fighting, and Astrid was staring all googly eyed at Hiccup. Those two had really gotten closer since Jolt had been there last. When he had last come, Hiccup was still the village outcast, and Astrid had respected him but she had kept her distance. Now they were closer than any two that Jolt had ever met.

He just stared down at his plate. He had never met any girl that he had ever liked. In fact, he had met barely any girls period, and when he did, he was usually awkward around them. Just another of the perks of being a trader.

They finished eating and set out to training. The twins were smashing their heads together in the corner, trying to see how hard they could hit each other before they passed out. Hiccup sighed again. Those two were the most loyal and faithful companions, and quite likable when they stopped fighting, but since they rarely did, they had become something of the village's nuisance, always playing pranks on others. They were usually funny, unless they happened to you. Hiccup rubbed the rope burn scars he had from when the twins had left him tied to a tree for two days before letting him go. Oh the memories.

Hiccup called for everyone's attention, and everyone stopped talking and looked in his direction. Jolt looked mildly surprised, but he understood. Hiccup was the only one that the teens respected enough to actually listen to when he spoke besides Stoick.

"Alright gang, today is a little teamwork battling day. You and your dragon will be a team working against another dragon and rider pair. You will be fighting to disarm only, we don't want to take anyone to the Healer today. We're going to do a bracket system, so Jolt and the twins are going first. Remember, disarm only," said Hiccup.

Jolt and the twins took up their sides on opposite sides of the arena. Hiccup held up his hand.

"And...begin!" shouted Hiccup.

Jolt looked over at Spark and understanding passed between them. They both had the same idea, and they were going to activate it. Spark immediately shot a lightning bolt from his mouth at the zippleback, who shrank back in fear. Spark kept the dragon busy while Jolt ran up to confront the twins.

Jolt flicked open Switchblade and brought up his shield. The twins surrounded him on both sides, trying to take advantage of their numbers. Jolt expected this, and he glanced over at Spark, gesturing slightly with his sword to Tuffnut, who had his back to Spark. Spark nodded firing a bolt at Tuffnut's ax. He dropped it as the energy coursed through the blade. Finding himself without a weapon, he tried to use his shield to defend himself.

Jolt spun around quickly, sensing movement behind him. Ruffnut was swinging her hammer toward Jolt's sword, intent on smashing it out of his hands. He reacted more on instinct than thought, catching the hammer on the base of the blade, absorbing as much of the impact as possible. Ruffnut looked up, puzzled, and Jolt grinned before flicking the blade over quickly, twisting the hammer out of her hands.

Now the twins tried using their shields to attack. Jolt was ready for this as well. They both charged from opposite directions, intent on squishing him between their two shields. At the last second, Jolt jumped up over them, and the twins slammed into each other. They dusted themselves off and charged again. Jolt reacted again, bracing himself and then putting the full force of his body into the double charge, shoving the pair backward. They were so dazed by the sudden wall of Jolt that they ran into that they didn't notice the shield swinging around toward their until it was too late. Jolt whacked both of the shields off their arms, putting his sword at their throats.

Jolt looked up and saw that Spark had cornered Barf and Belch in the corner. The zippleback was cowering in fear at the formidable dragon. Jolt whistled to him, calling him off of Barf and Belch. They stood in the middle of the ring, and shouted triumphantly.

"Alright, well done Jolt. That win goes to you. Next up, Fishlegs and Astrid," said Hiccup from his position atop the arena.

Fishlegs and Astrid squared off, but the fight didn't last long. While Fishlegs had the strength and size, Astrid was quick. She was able to slip in under his guard and disarm him within a minute or so, even including a tackle that pinned Fishlegs on the ground, begging for mercy. The dragons just sat and watched.

"Alright, good job Astrid, but this was a dragon and rider challenge. Next time try to use Stormfly, and Fishlegs, Meatlug can be helpful too. And next is, me and Snotlout," said Hiccup, sounding a little dejected at the end.

Snotlout sneered at his cousin, taking up his position in the arena. Hiccup grabbed his sword and collapsed shield, and took up his positions. Jolt took the honor of initiating the match.

"And...begin!"

It seemed that Snotlout had taken Jolt's advice and had scrapped the hammer for a much more mobile iron mace. It looked like he had been practicing with it extensively, since he swung it around like he had used it whole life.

Snotlout charged Hiccup first, and Hiccup opened his shield right in Snotlout's face just as he was about to slam into him. Hiccup used the momentary distraction to take a stab at Snotlout's mace, but Snotlout had a good grip on the thing. They backed off, trying to get a better bearing on their opponent.

With a nod from Hiccup, Toothless fired a shot at Snotlout, who put up his shield in defense. The blast blew him backward. He staggered back, screaming at his dragon Hookfang, "Well, don't just sit there, retaliate!"

Hookfang looked at Snotlout defiantly, but he still fired a shot at Toothless and Hiccup. Toothless jumped in front of Hiccup to block the shot, absorbing the energy of the shot. It didn't affect him greatly, but Hiccup saw him start to sway slightly from the impact.

Hiccup jumped over Toothless with the speed and grace of the dragon himself. He bull charged Snotlout who stupidly just stood there grinning. He waited before Hiccup was just about to hit him before throwing up his shield. But Hiccup was determined to finish this, so he just kept running right through him. The force of the impact knocked Snotlout on his back with Hiccup on top. He was trapped under his shield, his mace held useless in his pinned hand. Hiccup casually discarded the mace and ripped the shield off of him. He stood victorious, until he heard a familiar whooshing sound.

He looked up just as the blast of liquid fire hit him square in the chest. Hookfang evidently didn't like the way his rider was being treated and decided to get rid of the offender.

The blast made Hiccup fly back against the wall. The fire licking at his clothes and skin, but leaving him unharmed. He silently thanked Toothless for providing him this protection, but he had to look inconspicuous, so he got up and ran to the water trough situated nearby and jumped in. The fire died, releasing a cloud of steam into the air. He sighed in relief.

The gang gathered to make sure Hiccup was okay. Luckily, the protection that he got from his fire powers had leaked a little but, causing some burn marks on his clothes. Astrid was especially concerned about Hiccup.

"Are you alright? Do you have any burns or anything?" asked Astrid.

"Nope, I'm fine. The fire mostly hit my clothes," replied Hiccup.

Astrid was skeptical. He had seen the fire touch his skin, and if the fire had hit his clothes, they should have been much more burned than they were. There was something going on, but Astrid just couldn't figure it out.

"Alright, well, we'll call it a day. Good work. I'll see you guys tomorrow. Come on Jolt, let's go hang out. I'm feeling a little tired," said Hiccup, mounting Toothless.

Jolt nodded, jumping on Spark, and the two set off. There was something going on between those two, Astrid thought, but she couldn't figure it out. She waited till they were far enough ahead before jumping on Stormfly.

"Alright girl, let's go see what those two are up to."


	12. To Trust a Friend

Chapter 12: To Trust a Friend

Jolt and Hiccup landed in the cove. Jolt got off of Spark and sighed heavily.

"You were this close to blowing your cover, and you just got your powers. You've got to get those under control man, or else the whole village will know about it soon," said Jolt.

"Well sorry if I just did it to save my skin, literally. It was reactive, I couldn't control it, and if I didn't I would be in the Healer's hut for the rest of the week," said Hiccup defensively.

"That too, but I was also talking about when your powers flared up near Astrid. Your emotions really can influence your powers, and your emotions toward her are especially strong," said Jolt, giving Hiccup a wink.

Hiccup cringed a little. "Is it really that obvious?"

"That and more. You don't exactly try to hide it. Are you going to ask her out to the Snoggletog dance next week?"

"I will, but I just need to work up the courage to ask her. I love her, don't get me wrong, but she still terrifies me sometimes when she's angry. She's just like her dragon, come to think of it."

"Oh come on man, grow a pair and ask her out."

"I will, I will. So, do you have anything prepared for some of your friends for Snoggletog?" asked Hiccup, trying to change the topic. He smiled inwardly, knowing full well that Jolt would love the present that he had made for him.

"As a matter of fact I have. The question is, have you?"

"Of course. Are you going to ask anyone out?"

Jolt blushed. "No, I haven't met anyone I like yet. But if I find one before Snoggletog, you bet I'm going to ask her out."

Hiccup laughed at the thought of Jolt with a girlfriend. It would be rather comical.

"Anyway, let's practice shall we?" offered Jolt.

Hiccup nodded and let Jolt go first. He started firing bolts of lightning at blinding speeds at the rocks scattered around the cove, shattering them to pieces.

Astrid, who was sitting in a tree downwind of them, and high enough to remain unseen, gasped. She hadn't understood most of the conversation, about powers and whatnot, but when she saw Jolt fire those lightning bolts, she couldn't help but stare. How long had he been able to do that? It certainly wasn't normal. Astrid adjusted her position to get a better view, and broke one of the limbs of the tree off. She held her breath, hoping that no one had heard that.

Every head in the cave swiveled in her direction. It only took a second or two for them to find her, she didn't exactly blend in. She saw Hiccup sigh and gestured toward Astrid while saying something in a whisper to Jolt. He nodded and looked back to Astrid.

She climbed down the tree quickly, trying to get away before they caught her. She got to the ground and started to run. She didn't get far before she felt a rope tug at her waist and skirt. She looked down, but there was no rope or anything around her, but she felt herself being dragged in the direction of the cove. She tried to resist, but she couldn't do anything. She was pulled into the cove to see Jolt with his hand out, eyes ablaze with light, holding onto Spark, both of their bodies sparking with electricity.

Astrid rubbed her eyes. This was just getting insane. She must be hallucinating. She tried to pull away, but she was just getting pulled faster and faster toward Jolt and Spark. Just as she was getting close, she felt the force that had pulled her slack off. She tried to run again, but Hiccup tackled her.

"You know, you're just a little bit to curious for your own good," said Hiccup, looking down at Astrid.

"And you two have some explaining to do," said Astrid through gritted teeth.

"Alright, but only if you don't try to run. You wouldn't get very far of course, thanks to Jolt and Spark."

Astrid nodded reluctantly, standing up with a hand from Hiccup.

"Now tell me what's going on," she said.

"Always so quick to the point. She's already pretty much seen what I can do, but do you want to show her?" said Jolt.

Hiccup nodded, grinning. "With pleasure." He stood for a second, concentrating before the same violet flames consumed his whole body again.

Astrid screamed. She ran to the pond and tried to grab some water to splash at Hiccup, but it didn't do anything. Hiccup was just staring at Astrid coolly through the flames. Jolt was laughing next to him, looking at the expression on Astrid's face.

"It's not funny! Can't you see that he's on fire?" said Astrid gesturing to Hiccup, who was still just standing there staring.

Jolt stopped laughing for a second. "Yeah, I see, and I know he's safe. But what's really funny is the expression on your face!" he said before bursting into laughter again.

Hiccup made the flames die down before firing a blast at a rock, melting it into molten rock. He grinned, and Astrid just stared.

"Well, I guess I'd better explain all of...this," he said, gesturing to both him and Spark.

Astrid just stood there dumbstruck.

"Okay, where to start. Well, there is this thing known as the changing, which happens when a dragon and a dragon or a dragon and a human save each other's lives in an act of friendship and love, causing both to become a bit of each other. All four of us have small scars that are each a part of the other. Toothless here hid my powers to protect me, but Spark convinced him to let me loose. We can both talk to our dragons, and any other dragons that were affected by the changing. I can use violet fire like Toothless, and I can cover my body in it or fire it. Jolt can use lightning and he can fire bolts of it, he can heal with it, and he can attract and levitate metal objects with it, which is how he dragged you over here," Hiccup said by way of brief explanation.

As if to show her, Jolt held out his hand, which flickered with electricity, and Astrid felt the tugging force again on her waist and skirt, and also her shoulder guards. In fact, the attraction was powerful enough to remove her ax from it's usual spot in her hip and make it fly toward Jolt, who caught it deftly, swinging it around and then leaning on it, grinning.

Astrid still just stood there speechless.

"Well? Say something, you're scaring me," said Hiccup jokingly.

She sputtered out, "How...how l-l-long?"

"Well, since yesterday for me, and about, three days for you Jolt?" said Hiccup.

"Just about. In fact, after that one day of training when that bolt of lightning struck your ax as it was about to cleave my skull in two, that was me. After that, I ran away because I couldn't hold in the energy, and when I landed in the cove, I just exploded. Hiccup found me and helped me focus my powers. And then he gained his, and I've been helping him focus his, even though he already has a good grip on them," said Jolt.

Astrid took a deep breath. "I don't know what to say. It's just a huge shock for me."

"I know Astrid, but you have to promise to not tell anyone. If you do, we'll probably be outcast, branded as freaks. Gods know what will happen if Mildew finds out. You have to keep our secret," said Hiccup, pleading.

Astrid contemplated the thought for a second. But she discarded the idea of telling anyone almost instantly. Hiccup was her friend, and she couldn't betray her friend. Jolt was, and she hated to admit it, a friend too. She was grateful that he wasn't taken away by her, she already had to deal with Snotlout and Hiccup, if Jolt got in the mix than heads would roll.

"I'll keep your secret, but you have to let me watch you guys practice. I want to know what you guys can really do."

Jolt and Hiccup looked at each other and nodded. "It's a deal. If you want to practice your own stuff on the other side of the cove, that's fine. We'll primarily be using this side, separate from each other. If we create another maelstrom...," Hiccup said shuddering, "I don't know that I'd survive."

"Maelstrom?" asked Astrid puzzled.

"Oh that's right you don't know about that. Well, it's that explosion that happened when I almost died between Toothless and Spark," said Jolt, not wanting to explain the whole concept again.

"Ok, do your thing, and I'll do mine. I'll make sure not to disturb you unless it's important," said Astrid, still slightly confused.

They went their separate ways, each practicing their own abilities, Jolt with his lightning, Hiccup with his fire, and Astrid with her ax.

Astrid was becoming frustrated. She had been throwing her ax at the same tree for twenty minutes, but she just couldn't get the timing right. She was so shaken up by what had been revealed to her that she just couldn't focus. Getting extremely frustrated she flung her arms up in an act of despair, forgetting that her ax was still clenched in her hands. It flew out of her hands and raced through the air right at Jolt's head.

"Watch out!" she shouted out.

Jolt turned around and saw the ax racing at his head. He held his arms in an x pattern just in front of his chest. The air around him rippled slightly, and when the ax got within the ripple's perimeter, it bounced off, thudding into a tree nearby.

Jolt opened his eyes to see that his head was still attached to his shoulders. He had no idea what he had just done, but somehow he had repelled the ax that had come hurtling at his head. It was as if he had erected a shield of sorts that had protected him from that object. He wanted to try something, so he grabbed a stone and handed it to Hiccup, and stood off a little away from where he was standing.

"Alright Hiccup, throw it at me," he said.

Hiccup raised his eyebrow, but did it anyway. The stone sailed through the air, aimed right for Jolt's left thigh. Jolt did what he had done before, crossing his arms, focusing on that shield thing from before. He saw the air in front of him ripple slightly again, but the rock sailed through the ripple this time, whacking him in the thigh.

He winced. "Okay, so I guess it only works on metal objects. Useful to know though. It could save my life one day."

"Indeed. Watch, I can do something similar," said Hiccup.

He did the same motion as Jolt had done, crossing his arms in front of his chest. The air shimmered around him, and then exploded into a wall of flame. The flames simply floated in the air, dancing and weaving magically.

"Hmm, it looks cool doesn't it," said a voice behind him.

Jolt turned around to see Hiccup grinning behind him. Jolt looked back to the wall of flames, which was still burning brightly.

"How...what...?" said Jolt, not sure exactly what to say.

"Ha ha ha, yeah I can move while still keeping up the fire shield. You were just so distracted that I slipped around the side and popped up right behind you. It's not that hard to understand."

"Oh, you mean like this," said Astrid behind Hiccup, causing him to almost jump out of his skin in surprise.

"Astrid...don't...do that. You scared the living daylight out of me," said Hiccup.

"Well, I think we'll call it a day. God work, and remember Astrid, no telling. And try to keep the weird glances in our direction to a minimum. No offense, but you give away your emotions way too easily. For instance, right now you want to strangle me because I'm saying this. You're body language just gives it away," said Jolt.

Hiccup laughed. It was true, Astrid was standing with her hands almost at Jolt's throat, looking as if she wanted to pop his head off. Jolt just pushed her away and crossed his arms across his chest. Astrid and Hiccup were pushed away from Jolt, Astrid more as she was wearing much more metal, but Hiccup still had his knife, so he was pushed back too.

Jolt simply walked off and mounted Spark. "I think we're done here," he said before flying off.

Astrid and Hiccup looked at each other before racing to their dragons. They mounted up and raced off toward the village. Hiccup with his night fury was significantly faster than Astrid on her nadder. Jolt, though, flew behind the two, and with Spark creating his own little storm, sped ahead of the pair at supersonic speeds. The boom from their flight shook the other riders to the bone. Jolt grinned as he raced past.

"Enjoying my dust?" he screamed to Astrid and Hiccup.

"Not in the slightest," screamed back Hiccup.

"Ha ha meet you in the village," he yelled, flying away.

They all met up again in the village square. Jolt was leaning against Spark, grinning wickedly.

"Enjoy the flight?"

"Yeah, once my eardrums recovered from that boom. That was really loud. It was almost as if you broke the air itself. I've never seen anything like it," said Hiccup.

They all had a good laugh, and then they all went their separate ways. Jolt and Hiccup both went into the forge, while Astrid went away to her house. Astrid walked slowly, thinking about what she had been told that day. It was all so exciting, but so puzzling. It made sense, but then it didn't. It certainly explained some things, not just about him, but about her. She looked down at her right hand and saw the mark there, the spike shaped scar at the base of her thumb, a scar that had showed up one day unnoticed, and didn't look quite normal. It appeared to be made not of her own skin, but of scales, nadder scales...


	13. A Spread of Bonds

Chapter 13: A Spread of Bonds

Jolt and Hiccup walked into the forge the next morning, leaving the dragons outside. They went into Hiccup's private workspace to chat. Hiccup grabbed his sketchbook, while Jolt just stood in the corner.

"So, do you trust Astrid?" asked Jolt after a minute's silence.

"Yeah, I do. She's a good friend to me, and I know that she won't back stab me, she's far too loyal. That and she's clearly taken away by my awesomeness," said Hiccup sarcastically, flexing the muscles that he didn't have.

"Of course, since that's so obvious. It's more like your taken by her, not her by you, unless there's something else going on that I don't know about, but you're pretty much an open book .You don't really hide your emotions too much," said Jolt, smirking at Hiccup.

"You got me. It is the other way around, but still, a guy can dream can he. Besides, it's not like I expected her to actually like me back anyway. She's Astrid...this crazy girl that is the fighter that I was never meant to be, and I'm the nerd who will never be the viking that I was supposed to be. She's awesome, and I'm not."

"You know that's not true Hiccup. You're the dragon trainer, the man who befriended the enemy, who changed our world. How could she not like you for that?"

"Well when you put it that way..." said Hiccup.

Jolt smirked. "You know I'm right though."

"Of course you're right. When are you not right? It's like every question that I ask you have the answer to.

"Well, either I know it or Spark knows it, so I've got a good backup," said Jolt.

"Well..." Hiccup was saying before Astrid burst into the workroom.

"Cove, now," she said gasping.

They all climbed on their dragons and flew over to the cove. Astrid looked extremely distressed. She paced around, staring at her hands, muttering under her breath. Hiccup tried to calm her down, but nothing he did could appease her.

"Astrid, at least tell me what's wrong," said Hiccup.

"What's wrong? What's wrong is that I can do this!" she said, flicking her hand in the direction of the wall of the cove. A dozen spikes shot out of nowhere, looking like nadder spikes, but Stormfly was on the other side of the cove. If the spikes didn't come from her dragon, then had they come from...?

"Astrid? Do that again," said Hiccup, curious.

She flicked her hand again, and the spikes flew from her hand and thudded into a tree.

Jolt and Hiccup looked at each other before looking back over at Astrid.

"How long have you been able to do that?" asked Jolt.

"Since after I was with you guys the other day. I had this weird dream where Stormfly was in my head and she grabbed this big, glowing ball from my head and then brought it to my eyes, and then I woke up. I stretched when I woke up, and suddenly these spikes shot out of my hand from nowhere. It was weird, and you had both better tell me what is going on!" she screamed at Hiccup.

"Okay, okay, just calm down. We'll sort it all out. Jolt, do you have any explanation for this?" said Hiccup.

"I've got nothing. Spark?"

_I believe I do actually. The changing can happen in two ways actually, and I forgot about this before. It can happen when two dragons or a dragon and a human form a close enough bond that they actually start to become one another. It is a much more gradual, much less powerful process, but it can bring about similar results. The final step, when the powers actually show, has to be initiated by a dragon, who can bring those powers out into the world. You and Hiccup gained extraordinary powers because you actually used both parts of the changing process. I've never known it to happen before, but I know that it is possible._

"So, I'm one of you guys now. I can do all of this crazy stuff simply because I became friends with a dragon?" asked a confused Astrid.

"Yeah, but it's more than that. You became such good friends and got so close with your dragon that you actually start to become each other," said Jolt.

"So, does that mean that all of the other dragon trainers could potentially have gone through the changing too?" asked Hiccup.

"Possibly, but the only way to know would be to bring them here and test them one by one. Of course, their dragons would have to have initiated the process as well. Why did Stormfly choose now to initiate the changing?" asked Jolt.

_Well, it was mostly because I saw that the you had done it. Plus, the time is right, I just know it. Your abilities are going to be needed soon, I don't know why or when, but I know it_, said what everyone assumed to be Stormfly.

"So, if we bring everyone here, then their dragon could initiate the changing, and then we'd have all of our friends be able to do cool stuff like us!" said Jolt.

"Yeah, but do we really want to expose our friends to this kind of thing just yet? I mean, it seems kind of sudden don't you think? I mean, this is all just coming on way too fast, and who's to say that the other dragons will agree to join in?" said Hiccup.

"Well, the only way to know would be to bring them here and show them, and then see what happens. How about after training today? That seems like it would be a good idea," said Astrid.

"How about _as_ training today. That could work even better. We could even do it at the arena. We'd have much more space and it is still pretty set apart from the rest of the village, so we'd still be doing it in secret," countered Hiccup.

"Alright, but how do we know that they'll be able to keep it secret, especially if they start showing powers too. I mean, I trust Snotlout least of all to keep it secret, especially considering his bullying nature. He probably couldn't resist turning that on everyone else," said Jolt shuddering.

"We'll just have to make them keep quiet. Plus, if they don't, we have the firepower to keep them quiet," said Hiccup smiling while rolling a ball of fire around his hand.

"Agreed, so we'll show them at training today. They'll get the shock of their lives," said Jolt, lightning flicking over his arm.

Everyone met up at the training arena after lunch. "So, Hiccup, what are we doing today? Are we going to do so more fighting, because I really want to do that," said Snotlout, eying Jolt evilly.

Jolt just smiled. "Come at me, big boy. Let's see if you can beat an unarmed man with that mace of yours."

Snotlout took it as a challenge and charged at Jolt, who simply stood his ground. As Snotlout was about to run into him, he crossed his arms in front of his chest, initiating that same repulsive force, and Snotlout bounced away. He got up, dazed, and tried again. Jolt just leaned back against the wall, yawning. He held out his hand, shooting a bolt of lightning right at Snotlout's mace, making him drop it immediately. Snotlout looked up with pure terror in his eyes.

"What was that?" he asked, his voice sounding very small. Everyone else besides Hiccup and Astrid just stared. Jolt, Hiccup, and Astrid all looked at each other before bursting out into laughter.

They were rolling on the ground, pounding each other on the back because they were laughing so hard. When they managed to control themselves, Jolt said while wiping tears of mirth from his eyes, "It never gets old does it?"

"Not at all. So U guess we have some explaining to do for that," said Hiccup, gesturing at Jolt, "And this," he said, setting himself on fire.

Fishlegs screamed, grabbing water from the trough to put him out. Snotlout just looked amused and the twins were looking on with envy. Hiccup shut off the flames and Fishlegs calmed down.

"And of course, then there's this," said Astrid, flinging a dozen spikes right at Snotlout. He ran away from them until he ran into the wall. He jumped to dodge them, but the spikes followed him, pinning his clothes to the wall. He breathed a sigh of relief, and then discovering that he couldn't get down, started screaming.

"Get me down from here, you crazy, demented, gods cursed people!" yelled Snotlout.

"Ah ah ah, Snotlout, that's not how you ask is it," said Astrid condescendingly.

"Alright, alright, just let me down, please!"

Astrid waved her hand lazily, and the spikes flew from the wall back to her hand, where she collected them before throwing them like knives at the water trough.

Hiccup went on to explain all that had gone on in the past few days. It must have been the third or fourth retelling of the same story, and Jolt was getting rather bored of it. Hiccup purposefully left out the part about the other teens possibly having powers as well. He didn't want to get their hopes up if they didn't show anything. He could hear in the background Toothless, Spark, and Stormfly giving the other dragons the similar scoop.

_It seems that the other dragons have also gone through the changing, but they have been afraid to initiate the final step for fear of their riders' lives_, said Toothless to Hiccup.

Hiccup nodded. It made sense, and the same thing had happened between him and Toothless, but not quite.

"Anyway, that's all for today. We'll see you guys tomorrow," said Hiccup.

"That's it? No training, no nothing today?" said Snotlout incredulously.

"Nope, and be glad. Tomorrow I've got a lot planned," replied Hiccup, grinning at Jolt and Astrid.

The others flew off on their dragons, leaving just Jolt, Hiccup, and Astrid in the arena.

"Well. That went well," said Jolt.

"Yeah, it went better than I expected. Tomorrow will certainly be interesting. Nice touch with the spikes Astrid. That really put Snotlout in his place," said Hiccup.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," said Astrid. "He was always just such a big jerk, and he still thinks he can have me even though I like you."

Jolt turned around and grinned at Hiccup. "See, I told you she likes you."

"I never doubted it."

"You sure did before."

"Fine, be that way," said Hiccup in mock frustration.

"So, do you think the other dragons will do it? The initiation I mean," asked Astrid, trying to turn the conversation back to the topic at hand.

Hiccup nodded. "I'm almost fully certain they will, but we'll have to wait till tomorrow to find out."

They spent the rest if the day practicing their powers before turning in for the night.

They woke up the next day to find that all the teens were waiting by their window, throwing rocks in to try and wake them up.

Jolt rolled over. "It's happened, hasn't it?"

Hiccup mumbled groggily. "I would guess so. Let's go find out what they want," he said while grabbing his vest blindly. They both got themselves put together before vaulting out the window, much to the surprise of the teens waiting below. Their dragons followed suit quickly.

Hiccup looked to Astrid. "To the arena?"

Astrid nodded. They led the bewildered group of teens to the training arena. The first thing the twins did when they got there was nothing short of trouble.

"Watch this," said Ruffnut, holding out her hand. Green smoke billowed from it, quickly filling up half of the arena. Tuffnut snapped in his fingers, and a spark flicked from it, igniting the gas, singing everyone's eyebrows off.

"Yeah!," the twins shouted in unison, high fiving each other while everyone else just stared.

"Well, there's two done. That was fast," said Jolt.

"Wait, what do you mean 'that's two done'? You knew that this would happen!" said Snotlout.

Jolt nodded. "All of you hold out your right hands."

They all did as he said. He saw that all of them had some sort of scar on their hand, Fishlegs's was shaped like a boulder, Snotlout's like a small flame, and the twins had their on opposite sides of their palms and one was shaped like a cloud of gas and the other like a small spark. It made sense, as each alluded to their powers, or so he guessed.

"Alright, can any of you guys do any other things that are...unique or new to you?" asked Hiccup.

"Well, I can do this," said Fishlegs. He walked out of the arena and lifted a huge boulder that no viking should have been able to lift, and threw it about 100 feet. The boulder crashed to the ground, creating a crater that was about the size of a home. "And this," said Fishlegs again. He punched the ground, sending a tremor across the ground. The ground rumbled and shifted like it was alive, rippling as if it were the waves of the ocean. It knocked everyone besides Fishlegs to the ground.

"Wow, I was not expecting that. What about you Snotlout?" asked Astrid, rubbing her sore butt.

Snotlout grinned. "I thought you'd never ask."

He threw his arms out and his whole body lit up with a bright yellow fire. It was blinding almost, but impressive. The fire died quickly, but it left everyone blinded. He kept the fire going on his hand though, just to look impressive.

Astrid rolled her eyes. "You always have to make it more dramatic than it has to be don't you."

Snotlout grinned again. "What's wrong Astrid, did you not like my little demonstration? And cuz, I've got the same powers as you, but mine are much more awesome."

"They're not quite the same, but similar. I use violet flame, while you use a more yellow one. I can actually shoot my fire in bolts, but it looks like your fire is much more fluid, like water. Also, I can do this," Hiccup said, sending a wall of flame spiraling around himself. "And something else I never told the others," he said, but from an unknown source.

Suddenly, out of the shadows stepped Hiccup, but he looked different. His skin was much, much darker, almost black, that seemed to blend into the shadows. His skin faded back to its normal color before long, but it was still weird to look at.

Jolt smiled back at the group. "Well gang, welcome to the Riders of Berk."

**Just a quick note for all of you who may be confused on who can do what (although I think it was very straightforward)**

**Jolt: shoots bolts of lightning, can heal wounds, can attract or repel metal objects**

**Hiccup: can bend fire to his will, can endure any fire, can set himself on fire, can create walls of flame, can shoot bolts of fire, can turn his skin black to blend into the darkness**

**Astrid: can shoot spikes from her hand and can control them, like homing missiles**

**Ruffnut: can create green explosive gas**

**Tuffnut: can create sparks which can light Ruffnut"s gas**

**Snotlout: like Hiccup, he can set himself on fire and can endure any fire, but he cannot control other fire like Hiccup or shoot it from his body**


	14. The Riders of Berk

Chapter 14: The Riders of Berk

"The Riders of Berk? What is that supposed to mean?" asked Snotlout.

"Well, it's just the name that we came up with for us, the group who has become so close to our dragons that we have actually started to become them. We are the riders of the most fearsome creatures in existence, capable of changing the entire world with just a thought. And, hailing from Berk, it only seems appropriate," said Jolt by way of explanation.

"Oh, okay. That makes much more sense now, because at first I was like what, and then I was like huh, and then I got distracted, and then I got really confused, and then that made it make sense," said Tuffnut.

"You're always like that," said Ruffnut.

"Am not!" countered Tuffnut.

"Yes you are."

"Why I ought to..." said Tuffnut before tackling his sister, pinning her to the ground. They rolled around, smacking their heads together constantly. Honestly, Hiccup really worried about the mental sanity of those two. It was like they were two Terrible Terrors fighting over a fish, but at other times they were just inseparable and nice people. They just loved fighting, and Hiccup could use that energy, but when they kept fighting themselves, that kind of neutralized their usefulness.

Hiccup put two fingers to his mouth and whistled loudly. The twins stopped fighting and just looked over at Hiccup.

"Thank you. Now, as I was going to say, we will be meeting at the usual training time to practice our powers and such, especially in combat situations. If what I'm hearing from the reports our spies are giving us, Alvin is growing bolder by the day. My father is expecting an attack sometime after Snoggletog, which gives us about two weeks to hone our powers before he is brave enough to mount an assault," said Hiccup. "You guys have to swear not to tell anyone about yours or any others abilities. If you do, we'll probably be exiled from the island, particularly by Mildew. I know none of you would want that, so I advise you to keep mum on this," said Hiccup.

They all nodded in agreement. "Alright then, meeting adjourned. See you tomorrow," said Hiccup.

The others departed again, leaving just the three in the arena again.

"You know, I'm starting to get used to this same kind of pattern day after day. Bringing the gang in, telling them something incredulous, having them leave, and the just standing here awkwardly. It seems to have become just a habit by now, you know," commented Jolt.

"I know what you mean, and I feel like this whole week has been nothing but incredulous. It's just all so sudden. But such is life. We just need to take it in stride," said Astrid.

Hiccup gave her a look. "Getting philosophical on me? That's so not like you Astrid," he said sarcastically.

"Yeah well even with your powers, I could still kick your butt in a weapons match. No tricks, no powers, just skill."

"Is that a challenge?"

"It is. Do you accept?"  
Hiccup just grinned. "Wholeheartedly. Do you want to do it now?"

"Yup, get into your position. Jolt here can be judge."

Jolt just laughed. They were so hilarious together. "Alright then, now that I've been voluntold to do it, I guess I'm in."

Hiccup raised his eyebrow. "Voluntold?"

"Yeah, like when someone volunteers you for something without telling you, and then telling you that you have to do it. It's a saying that my dad used to use all the time, especially with my mom. She would do it all the time," said Jolt.

"Okay, well revery is over. Time for the match," said Astrid impatiently.

Hiccup took up his position, flicking open his shield. Jolt started the match, and the two raced each other. Hiccup seemed to be moving faster than he used to be able to. He waited for Astrid to swing first before attacking. He swung his sword quickly, so quickly that it was just a blur. Astrid didn't even have time to think before the sword slammed into her ax. It moved with such speed and grace that the ax just flew away from her grasp. She just couldn't react fast enough. Before she could even blink, Hiccup jumped up and pinned her against the ground with his foot against her chest.

"Still think you can beat me?" asked Hiccup.

"You cheated. Somehow I know you did," said Astrid indignantly.

"Nah. The speed and agility I got from Toothless through the bond, and I just use what's given to me."

"So you did cheat."

Hiccup just laughed. "No more than you did. Don't think I didn't catch the underhand spike toss you shot at me right at the beginning."

"Damn, I thought you wouldn't catch that," said Astrid smiling.

Hiccup just laughed again and pulled Astrid up from the ground. Jolt just stood off to the side, watching the whole affair, whittling his little carving. He quickly put it away before Hiccup saw, but he still stood there with his eyebrow up.

"What?" asked Hiccup.

"Nothing. You to are just hilarious together," said Jolt grinning.

"Come on guys. Let's go get some food, I'm starving. You have no idea how much energy it takes to run that fast," said Hiccup.

They all mounted their dragons and set off for the Great Hall. All of the other teens were there, and they tried to eat their food without looking conspicuous. Apparently they tried too hard, and Gobber came over to investigate.

"What's got you all so hot and bothered on a fine day such as this?" asked Gobber.

The tension among the group was so high that everyone jumped at his voice. Hiccup, ever the quick thinker, came up with an answer.

"We're not hot and bothered. We just enjoying our meal in peace, is that too much to ask? And its not really that good of a day, I mean a good day on Berk is just a day when it's not snowing out."

"Aye, that's true, but still, you all seem rather tense, at least more so than usual," said Gobber. He laughed at his own joke. The group always had some small tension, but they were all fairly relaxed around each other.

"Yeah, well, training didn't go too well today," said Hiccup, turning his head away from Gobber, pretending to rub something out of his eye. He winked at everyone, hoping they caught on to his ruse.

"Yeah," Astrid said quickly. "I nearly got stabbed by a nadder spike." She quickly reached under the table, sticking a nadder spike from her hand into the fabric of her skirt. "See," she said, showing her skirt to Gobber.

"Yeah, and I almost got burned by Hookfang. I don't think those hand signals we were working on really worked like we wanted them too," said Snotlout.

Hiccup almost laughed out loud. Snotlout coming up with an intelligent answer? It was almost too good to be true.

"I told you guys that they were experimental, but did you believe me? No, you had to be rash and try them out. Now look what you got," said Hiccup.

Gobber nodded. "Now that makes more sense. Better work more on your lesson plans, Hiccup."

He walked away, leaving the teens letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Nice improvisation guys. I didn't think that we would make it out of that unscathed. Snotlout, you especially. I never knew you were capable of an actual intelligent answer," said Hiccup, dodging the fist that came with the comment.

"Well you know it's true," said Astrid, laughing.

Snotlout blushed, trying to fix the emotions that so clearly played across his face. The colors his face was turning would have kept the teens entertained for years, but they only lasted a few minutes. He got so flustered that he forgot to control his powers and set his arm on fire.

Astrid quickly grabbed her mug of water and attempted to put out Snotlout's arm. In the confusion, Snotlout was able to put out the flame, but not before the entire hall was looking at them.

Astrid came up with a story on the spot. "Wow Hiccup. That fire starter really works, but you'll need to work on that some more."

Hiccup laughed, pulling out a foldable knife he had been working on, hoping it actually looked like a prototype fire starter. Thankfully everyone was used to his antics and passed it off as just another hiccup of Hiccup's. (see what I did there)

Hiccup smiled to the crowd, and then turned around and glared at Snotlout. "What was that? You almost blew our cover!"

Snotlout cowered in the corner, trying to make himself as small as possible. "I didn't mean to, it just sort of happened," he said whimpering.

"Interesting. Our powers seem to react to our emotions. We'll have to keep our emotions in check or risk blowing our cover. Everyone just try not to blow their top and we'll be fine, especially with Snoggletog just around the corner," said Jolt.

"Yeah, and I expect you guys not to use them around others and to report to training on time _every_ day. We can't slack on this," said Hiccup.

Everyone groaned. Training usually was only every other day, occasionally two days in a row, but rarely. Snotlout and the twins also had the pesky habit of usually sleeping in and showing up late, a habit that Hiccup had tried to beat out of them, but with little success. "If you don't, well I'll have Jolt show you how much getting shocked by lightning hurts."

Everyone nodded quickly in agreement. They didn't want to be on the receiving end of any of Jolt's lightning bolts. Some of them had accidentally been at the receiving end of a bolt, Hiccup in particular, who rubbed his sore knee at the thought.

Everyone was leaving to hang out for the rest of the day, but as they were leaving, Jolt's father pulled him aside.

"What's up dad?" asked Jolt.

"I'm just checking up on you son. I haven't seen you for about a week now, and I like to keep tabs on my son. So, how's dragon training going?" asked Kyle.

"Um, great. I'm learning so much about dragons. By the way, have you got yourself a dragon yet?"

Kyle just smiled. "I did indeed. Follow me, I'll show him to you."

They walked outside, and Kyle whistled a piercing, high pitched whistle. Soon, a ruby red monstrous nightmare came hurtling out of the sky, landing at Kyle's feet. He nuzzled up to Kyle, looking more like an overgrown, scaly puppy dog than a massive and scary creature.

"How are you doing Flamewringer? This is Jolt. Say hello."

Flamewringer nodded his head at Jolt, and Jolt nodded back, returning the authoritative look it gave him. Jolt had to smile. The dragon was like his father in a lot of ways, headstrong, a leader, one who can fight, but also one who knows kindness. They were perfect for each other.

"He's great dad! Will we have room for them both at the new house?" asked Jolt.

Kyle laughed. "Them and more. The others will be getting their own dragons soon, whether I say no or not. Especially Avrill. I don't know what I'm going to do with that girl."

Avrill was Jolt's younger sister who had a self centered personality, and followed only her own rules. She was kind, but she did her own thing, whether you liked it or not. She was like her father in that respect, headstrong, stubborn, never giving up. Then again, so was he, though he refused to admit it.

"Well dad, it was nice chatting, but I've got to got. I told my friends I would meet them at the beach," said Jolt.

"Alright son. I'll see you tomorrow, and I'll need your help. We need to move our new furniture into our house. I can't do it alone, and you're strong enough."

Jolt was slightly taken aback. It was a little early for their house to be finished wasn't it? It had only been a week or two, and they were already moving in?

Kyle saw the confusion on his son's face. "With dragons helping and Hiccup's genius plans and devices, we were able to finish the house ahead of schedule. That boy is really quite something, a genius, he is, but very...un-viking like. He is the future, you all are the future, and I hope that you learn a lot from him."

Jolt nodded before running off to join his friends by the dock. His father's words rang in his ears. They were the future. They were the change in the world. The question was, would what they did have a good or a bad impact on the world that they were creating.

**I know that I took forever to get this one up, but I had to deal with this pesky little thing known as the public school system. I'll try to update as soon as I can, but school takes up a lot of time, so my update schedule may be more spaced out. Just giving my faithful readers a heads up. Again, please review. I love the feedback as it helps to refine the story. **


	15. Snoggletog

Chapter 15: Snoggletog

Jolt woke the next morning sore and tired, but happy. He had spent the entire rest of the day before just hanging out and having fun with his friends. He had played several pranks on some of the other teens, and he had had some pranks played on him. It had all been in good fun, and he had enjoyed every minute of it.

It had snowed during the night, and everything was covered with a blanket of pure white, a glistening covering that draped over everything in sight. It was a peaceful and beautiful snowfall, delicate in a way. Jolt sighed, smiling. He had never seen a good snow, living on a boat and all, so the sight of such a beautiful snowfall was breathtaking.

Hiccup woke and saw him sitting by the window and walked over. They sat there in silence, just staring out at the crystalline white snow.

"It's so beautiful," said Jolt in awe.

"I know right. So tranquil and quiet, as if liquid peace has descended on the earth," said Hiccup.

"Yeah. So, Snoggletog's tomorrow. You ready?"

"Of course I am you sissy. I'm going to ask Astrid to come to the dance today, and then I'll help with the decorations, and then we'll celebrate tomorrow. Oh, it's going to be the best Snoggletog ever! And the first with dragons! Oh, this is going to be great," said Hiccup in a voice of bliss.

"Hey, don't enjoy yourself too much. You might explode," said Jolt, nudging Hiccup with his elbow.

"Yeah well, I'll try to contain myself."

"Come on, lover boy. We need to get some breakfast before you ask out your girlfriend. You'll have to do it fast, because Stoick is going to enlist us in decorating. I don't know about you, but I'm famished."

"Always thinking about food aren't you? Race you to the great hall?"

Jolt smiled. "You know I'll beat you."

"Bring it on/"

They both raced down the stairs and out the door, intent on beating the other to the Great Hall. Their dragons raced after them, hot on their heels, almost neck and neck. Soon it became an all out dash among the four of them to see who could get there first. The wind that they stirred up in their passing nearly blew several Vikings over, and many of them lost their hats or what they were holding. Several cursed them as they ran by, but the words were lost to the runners.

They nearly ran into Stoick himself. He saw them all run by, amazed at the pure speed exhibited by both the humans and the dragons. Hiccup had never been that fast, never in his life. He had always been physically inadequate, but his mind was the sharpest of any Viking living or dead. Stoick had hated that about his son, the fact that he would never live up to be who his father was. He had always tried to get Hiccup to become the viking that Stoick was, but Hiccup failed miserably. He yearned so much for his father's affection that he did the unthinkable, he shot down a night fury, which had gotten them all into this crazy new world. Stoick was grateful for that, but now he was amazed at the change in his son. Over the past few days, he had become stronger, faster, even smarter than he had before, if that was possible. He didn't know what to make of it, but he knew there was a reason.

The four ran neck and neck through the village square. They were almost at the Great Hall when Hiccup started to break away from the other three. Hiccup reached the Great Hall first, falling to his knees gasping for breath. Jolt soon joined him. The dragons followed after the two boys. They had been holding back the whole time, knowing full well that they could destroy the teens in any race they proposed, but they respected the boys personal game.

When the boys got their breath back, they shook hands on the game, Jolt congratulating Hiccup on his win. They walked into the Great Hall, grabbing breakfast and sitting down at the table with their friends. They all just stared at the two boys.

"What," asked Jolt after a minute of stares.

"So that's your way of keeping a low profile? Running super fast through the village where _everyone_ can see you?" said Astrid.

"We weren't running that fast, were we?" asked Hiccup.

"How to put it? Let's just say that all you were to everyone was a blur through the air as you ran by, and the wind you made almost knocked some people over. I've never seen anyone run that fast before. It was unnatural," said Fishlegs, slightly in awe.

"And you call this natural?" said Jolt, holding out his hand, making lightning bolts play across the surface. "What's happening to us is something that is completely new, uncharted territory. It seems that we have inherited certain traits from our dragons besides the powers, like speed and strength. We have to be careful how we play our cards, or we'll end up banished."

"True but..." began Tuffnut, but Stoick got up to speak before he could finish.

"As you all now, Snoggletog is tomorrow, and that means we have a lot of work to do to get ready. Everyone who is a teen will report to their parents for instruction."

Jolt got up from the table quickly and walked over to where his father was sitting.

"So dad, what's the plan?" asked Jolt, wanting to know what he would be doing for the day.

"Well I was hoping you could tell me. We'll be decorating our new house, which we'll be moving into the day after Snoggletog, but after that you'll have to ask Stoick. I know you and Hiccup get along well, and I know you'll be able to work well with each other."

"Alright dad. I got it. Meet you at the house," he said before running of to rejoin his friends. Well, he had a full day of work ahead of him, and he wasn't going to get it done with an empty stomach. He sat down at the table and began eating like crazy. He would need energy for the day.

Everyone just stared at the change in the boy. Jolt was pounding down more food than most of the other teens combined, and he was still going strong.

Jolt looked up. "What? I'm hungry. Can't a guy eat some food in peace without everyone watching? It's getting weird."

"Well it's kind of hard not to when you're eating more food than all of us combined. Do you have a hollow leg or something?" said Tuffnut.

"More like two hollow legs," said Ruffnut.

"Well yeah, I'm hungry. Hiccup, I'm going to be working with you after I finish decorating my own new house. Sound good?" said Jolt.

"Yeah, I heard from my father. We have a long day of work ahead of us," said Hiccup, grinning.

Jolt ran down to his new house right after he finished eating. The house was completely finished now, just a few last minute details to complete. It was a large sized house, two stories high, with a roosting shed for the dragons in the back. Jolt knew that his own room had a similar rock slab that Hiccup had for Spark, but all the other dragons had their own sheds in the back. It was a bright blue color, a brilliant blue that shone in the sun. Jolt's own room had a large window that looked out over the sea, and it was conveniently placed at a position near the roof so he could climb on when he wanted to, something he had conjured up with Hiccup. All in all, it was Jolt's idea of a dream house, even if it was the only house he had ever called home since when he was six. It was beautiful, a truly spectacular sight to behold.

Kyle came down from the Great Hall shortly after Jolt, and they started to decorate the house with the supplies they had been given by Stoick. Since they didn't have their own, they simply borrowed them from the chief, who had a huge collection of them for any who needed them. When they were done, the house was decorated brightly with colorful wreaths and shields. It looked amazing, a fitting tribute to their new house.

"Looks good, now go see how else you can help," said Kyle.

Jolt called to Spark, who followed him eagerly. It was a short jog to get to Hiccup's house. They were just finishing up their house too, and it looked great.

"Hey Hiccup, got anything that needs doing?" asked Jolt.

"Yeah, we need to work more on the village square. I'm sure Spark will be able to help us there," said Hiccup smiling.

They worked on the square for most of the day, and Spark was especially helpful for reaching high, hard to reach places, although the gronkles, with their ability to hover, were the most useful.

By the end of the day, both Hiccup and Jolt were exhausted, and gratefully fell into a deep sleep.

They both woke up early on the morning of Snoggletog because they wanted to get a nice long flight in the morning as a small gift to Toothless and Spark. They pulled all sorts of tricks and maneuvers, reveling in the crisp morning air. The dragons loved it, especially with the humans. Never had they believed in their lives that they would never even come close to sparing a human, let alone befriending one. Now, they couldn't believe they could live without their human companions, they had just become an integral part of their very being, inseparable beings tied together by love and friendship. Now with the powers give to them by the changing, they were even closer, even more so that was previously thought possible.

When it came time for breakfast, Jolt managed to whip up a fine spread, a breakfast fit for a chief. Although Jolt never wanted to admit it, but he was a great cook, one of the best he knew, but cooking was seen as a woman's profession, but Jolt was so good at it that none teased him for it. The spread he procured, full of fried eggs and delicious breakfast meats, omelets and muffins, was enough to set anyone's mouth watering. Stoick was sad that he would be leaving to live with his own family soon, because he most of all loved the food that Jolt prepared.

After breakfast, Hiccup pulled Jolt aside from the hustle and bustle. "Meet me at the cove, there's something I want to give you."

"Same. I'll see you there."

They both mounted their dragons and quickly flew off to the cove. When they landed, Hiccup got out a rather odd looking long object, wrapped all in leather. Jolt pulled out a smaller object from Spark's saddle bags, also wrapped in leather.

They exchanged parcels, eagerly wanting to know what was inside but also wanting to see the other's reaction. As much as getting gifts was good, giving them was even better.

Hiccup got his open first, as it was much smaller. He held the object in his palm, staring at the amazingly intricate object in his hand.

It was a wood carving, finer than any Hiccup had ever seen. There was a short sword that crossed with a charcoal pencil, and the whole thing was surrounded by a large gear. It was painted beautifully, full of contrast and highlights that made the piece come alive. The gear was painted a metallic silver, and the pencil and sword were painted their natural colors. One thing he didn't notice at first was the design across the top of the gear. It was intricately and delicately carved, almost invisible against the grain of the wood. It was an image of a night fury, captured in mid flight. It was an almost perfect replica of Toothless, and it even included his fake tail fin. It was a beautiful sight to behold, the most beautiful that Hiccup had ever seen. There was a cord attached to the top, so it was meant to wear as a necklace. He placed it over his neck and found that the cord was the perfect length, the pendant resting gently against his skin.

"You like it?" asked Jolt tentatively, setting aside his own half unwrapped parcel.

"Do I? It's amazing! I've never seen anything like it before. How on earth did you make this?"

"With a lot of time. I used to whittle when I was bored on long voyages, and I got really good at it over time. It takes a long time to do, but the results are usually worth it."

Hiccup kept admiring the pendant, and Jolt finished unwrapping his gift. When he got it open, he just stared at it, dumbfounded. It was a quarter staff, about five feet tall, and topped with a perfect metal sphere. There were metal plates on the outside of the pole positioned so that they were like handles to grab on to. When he grabbed it, he could feel the metal running through the core of the pole leading all the way up to the sphere. On a hunch, Jolt sent a bolt of lightning through the handles, and sure enough, a bolt shot out of the sphere on the top, almost twice as powerful as it would have been had he simply shot it out of his hand. It was amazingly complex, but yet simple at the same time. It was just the kind of thing he needed, a tool to help him with his powers.

"Thank you Hiccup. It's amazing," said Jolt, still in awe of the staff.

"Well I see you figured out how it works," said Hiccup, pointing to the burn mark on the cove walls that was beginning to fade.

Jolt smiled. There was one other thing about that pedant that he wanted to show Hiccup, something that Jolt had helped him with.

Hiccup, flame up for me would you," said Jolt. "Trust me."

Hiccup nodded, setting himself on fire. When he did so, the night fury in his pendant started to glow a deep, dark, midnight purple, almost the same color as the night fury itself. Hiccup saw it and just stared at it in awe. He shut off the flames, and the color slowly faded.

"How?" was all Hiccup was able to ask.

"Night fury scales. They react with their own fire, as almost every dragon's does besides a monstrous nightmare, to produce a different glow. It's a neat effect, but it doesn't do much in terms of power. It just looks cool, and in fact, you looked very dramatic, what with your eyes glowing that shade of green, the flames all around you, and the pendant glowing," said Jolt by way of explanation.

"Well you looked just as much dramatic when you wielded that staff like you did. It almost makes you look like Thor himself."

They hugged each other, each grateful for the gift from the other, and also grateful that their gift had been accepted.

They broke off and flew back to village. Jolt rejoined his family by their house. He arrived just as Kyle started to speak to his siblings.

"I've got a little something that I would like you to have, and I'm sure that Jolt can help you with this. If you would like, I will let you each get a dragon to keep and train. It will be a good companion and it will be good for working on patience and responsibility. You will be responsible for your own dragon. Jolt, if you could help the kids find their own dragons, that would be really helpful," said Kyle.

Jolt just laughed. "Follow me. I'm sure we'll find the perfect dragon for each of you."

He led them to the arena, making sure to grab several different species of dragons to inspect. The children lined up against the wall of the arena as I lined up the dragons next to each other. They were all wild, more or less, and belonged to no one, so if the kids wanted one, then they could have it.

Avrill was up first. She went from each dragon to the next, inspecting it and asking a plethora of questions. She ended up choosing a female Deadly Nadder, which she promptly named Cloud for its ability to flit about and its light blue/white coloring.

Maggie, Jolt's next youngest sister, was next. She was much more shy by nature, and he knew that she would likely not be doing much flying. She went from dragon to dragon, but she settled on a Terrible Terror, a light green one, that immediately took a liking to her. It slung itself around her shoulder, and she named it Slither.

Edwin, Jolt's younger brother and the youngest of the group, went last. He was young, only about seven, so Jolt tried to make it easy for him and tried not to scare him, but Edwin was pretty fearless. In fact, in bordered on reckless, and Jolt knew that he would grow up to be a fearsome warrior like his father. He didn't want Edwin to have a full sized dragon, so he allowed him to pick a younger dragon, not quite a hatchling but not quite fully grown. He settled on a Monstrous Nightmare, and just like his father's, it was bright red. He named it Magma.

They all enjoyed their new dragon friends, especially Avrill, who was all too eager to get flying. She jumped on Cloud's back and flew up into the sky, somehow staying on the dragon's back. He knew that he had to make a saddle for her, and the others were too small to ride. Maggie would never ride hers, and Edwin would only when he was old enough. He roped in Avrill and Cloud, bringing them back to forge. Jolt did some of the fastest measuring and stitching he had ever done in his life. Soon, the saddle was done. He instructed Avrill on how to put it on, and he knew he would probably have to do it again, but he did it anyway. Avrill saddled up quickly and took off. Jolt smiled and took off after her. She flew with a grace that came only from experience, and Jolt wondered if she had secretly been flying a dragon when her father's back was turned. That would be so...her, defiant and revolutionary.

Jolt didn't believe that his life could get any better, This was certainly the best Snoggletog ever.

**Don' worry for all of you expecting the gift of the night fury story, I will be including it next chapter, but with my own spin on it with the facts from the film. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember to please review!**


	16. The Nesting Sight Heist

Chapter 16: The Nesting Site Heist

Jolt and Avrill landed after their flight, and Avrill was thrilled at the chance to fly, even though Jolt knew that she had done it before.

"How long have you been flying?" asked Jolt.

Avrill blushed. "Well, I may or may not have sneaked out, several times, to fly on several different dragons, but I love cloud. She's like a dream come true for me, a dragon that I can truly connect with. All the others were nice, but they're not like Cloud."

"I know what you mean. I feel the same way," said Jolt, and he was about to say more when suddenly the dragons started acting up. They started to screech loudly, looking to the sky before flying away, along with a cloud of other dragons. As Jolt watched, he saw that all the dragons on Berk were leaving, all flying off in one huge mass. He had no idea where, but he knew it was important, something that was meant to be.

Jolt and Avrill raced to the village square, where many of the other villagers were already congregating. The other villagers were all yelling at once.

"Where have the dragons gone?"

"What does this mean?"

"Snoggletog is ruined!"

"What are we going to do?"

"Silence!" yelled Stoick, and everyone shut up rather promptly. "I'm sure Hiccup can tell us what's going on."

Everyone looked at Hiccup, who stood awkwardly in the center of the crowd. "That's the thing dad, I don't know."

Everyone was shocked. Hiccup didn't know something about dragons? That so far was something no one had yet seen. Hiccup was the most knowledgeable about dragons and their mannerisms, except for maybe Fishlegs, but still, Hiccup was the best.

"Alright, well, Hiccup will investigate and he will get back to you when he can. Right Hiccup?" said Stoick.

Hiccup nodded, walking away to think about the matter in question. He could never remember an event like he had just witnessed, but then again, dragons didn't live on Berk. He did remember, however, that there had suspiciously never been any winter raids in the history of Berk. This could be an explanation, but that wouldn't help their problem at hand.

He needed some work to get his mind off of things. He would've flown off on Toothless, but he had made him a special tail that Toothless could control himself. He had made it for him after Ruffnut had commented that Toothless could never come and go like the other dragons, and Hiccup felt sorry and made Toothless a new tail. He had lost his helmet on that flight, the helmet that was one of his only memoirs of his mother. It was close to him, but he could move on. It was how he had always lived with the pain of his mother's death.

Hiccup's mother had been someone who Hiccup had always held most dear. It was Valhalarma who had been one of the only ones that had accepted Hiccup for who he was and didn't make fun of him or ridicule him for being different. Hiccup had loved her like he had he would never love anyone ever before. It had killed him when she had been killed in a dragon raid when he eight, and he and his father had had trouble moving on from that pain, but Hiccup had learned to live through that pain, embracing it as a memoir of her.

Hiccup went down to the docks to see if there was any work that needed to be done. As it turned out, there were some oars that needed to be reworked, and he needed to take them up to the carpenter. As he was hauling the oars up to the carpenter, he saw Fishlegs hauling a very large basket of fish up toward a storage barn.

"Whoa, are you hungry Fishlegs? You've got enough fish there to feed a dragon," said Hiccup sarcastically.

"A dragon...oh that's...ha ha," said Fishlegs awkwardly, walking away toward the barn.

Hiccup was suspicious. Fishlegs was acting nervous (he was never good at shielding emotions) and that meant he had something to hide. He put the oars aside, approaching the barn. Fishlegs walked out sneakily, without the basket of fish. Hiccup opened the barn doors.

He was suddenly yanked off of his feet and propelled backward. He had no idea where the force had come from, but there was something hard under his hands. He looked up.

"Meatlug?" he asked.

Meatlug looked up at Hiccup, realizing for the first time that there was a human on her snout.

Meatlug flew through the village square, nearly bowling over Jolt in the process.

"Whoa! Hiccup? Where are you going?" he screamed.

"I have no idea!"

Jolt saw that Meatlug was flying without Hiccup's control, as Hiccup was on her nose. Jolt saw that she was headed for a bridge that was connected to the street that he was on. Jolt ran as fast as he could, trying to make it to the bridge before the dragon could. He reached the bridge just as Meatlug was under it. He leaped as far as he could, judging the angles, and landed perfectly on her back.

He held out his hand to Hiccup, who was still stuck on Meatlug's nose.

"Need a lift?" Jolt asked. Hiccup grasped his hand, sliding in behind Jolt. Meatlug could easily carry the weight of the two boys, whose combined weight was smaller than that of Fishlegs. The boy was huge, a mass of a man, even if he was a gentle giant. He was one of the biggest teenagers on Berk, almost as big as Stoick himself.

"So, Meatlug, what's going on here?" asked Jolt.

_All in due time. You need to see it to believe it. It is one of the most beautiful things about being a dragon, and it is not something that I can put into words in your, inexpressive human language,_ said Meatlug.

"Alright then. Take us to this...sight too amazing to put in words," said Hiccup in a sarcastic manner.

They flew in silence, over the endless ocean with nothing in sight for hours. After flying for a long time, they saw an island in the distance.

It was large island, almost four times the size of Berk. The air was warm, warmer than most summers in Berk ever got. The waters around the island glistened several different colors from the mineral hot springs that lay all around the island. The island was also filled with dragons, dragons of every shape and size, dragons that Hiccup knew about and some that were completely new. Meatlug was right, it was simply breathtaking. There was no way to describe the experience of seeing that island.

Meatlug landed and walked off toward one of the many holes that riddled the shoreline of Berk.

Hiccup and Jolt gazed around the island, still in awe of its beauty. When they turned around, they saw Meatlug push eggs into the hole that she had walked by. The hole was a miniature hot spring, and the eggs plunged into the watery depths. At first Hiccup and Jolt were confused, and rushed to save the eggs, but Meatlug held them back.

_No. Watch._

As they watched, the eggs hit the bottom of the pool, and one by one burst open. A baby gronkle sprang from each egg and swam their way to the top. There was a good number of eggs, about six in all, and each one contained a small gronkle, each a different color too. When each little one surfaced, they wobbled their way out of the pool and toward their mother. Meatlug eagerly greeted her young, nuzzling them and hugging them close to her.

_I am afraid for my other young. I could not restrain myself, and six of my eggs are still on Berk. I fear for anyone who comes across those eggs. When they hatch, they explode violently, which is why we hatch our young underwater. When my young are able to fly by themselves, then I and my fellow dragons will return. _

Jolt took the news well. It made sense, but he was afraid for Berk. If there were six eggs on Berk, and they all exploded, than that could cause some serious damage.

Hiccup, who hadn't heard Meatlug's statement, walked over to the hot spring hole.

"Looks like you missed one," he said, reaching for one egg that had gotten stuck and hadn't fallen into the pool. He just about touched it when it exploded, propelling him backward. He skidded on his butt, coming to a stop at a cliff wall.

"Man, it's a good thing those don't hatch on Berk," he said when he got up.

"Yeah, Meatlug was just telling me about it. Those things pack a punch don't they."

Meatlug gathered all her young together. _This is the beauty, the miracle of life. It is something beyond comprehension, beyond understanding. It is simply a beautiful occurrence._

Hiccup and Jolt both nodded respectfully. They understood completely, as the same was true on Berk. Whenever a baby was born, the entire village threw a party to celebrate, as all life was considered beautiful and sacred. Everyone congratulated the parents on their fertility, and gifts of cattle and food where offered.

"Well, I should find Spark, and see if he has some kids. I may just be an uncle," said Jolt grinning.

"Yeah, and I'll see if I can find Toothless. He's probably around here somewhere."

They both split up, going their separate ways. Jolt saw a group of skrills and he went over to them. The baby skrills were cutest thing that Jolt had ever seen, a small little bundle of scales and lightning. The babies didn't have spikes on their back or tails, so he assumed that the spikes came with age. The babies were throwing off lightning bolts like crazy, striking everything in sight. Luckily they were not high powered blasts, but they were enough to blow some things up. He noticed that the skrills tended to keep to their own little group in the nesting sight, because if they didn't all Hel would break loose.

Jolt looked over the group of skrills and immediately saw Spark. He ran to go see him, but he was stopped by two male skrills.

_Human! What are you doing here? Your kind are not welcome here,_said the skrill on the right. Jolt was confused for a second. Normally he could only talk to dragons that had experienced the changing, but it was obvious that these dragons had not, he could just feel it. Was his powers growing, allowing him to hear all dragons? Only time would tell.

_He is a changeling, surely he cannot be harmful. Are you?,_ asked the skrill on the left.

"No, I'm not harmful. I just want to see my friend, the skrill over there with those baby ones, the light blue one."

The left skrill nodded. _If he approves of you, then we will allow you access. Thunderwing! Come here please!_

Spark ran over to us, and upon seeing me, rushed up to me and nuzzled me. He looked genuinely glad to see me, and I scratched him a little.

_Why are you here? Better question, how did you get here?,_ asked Spark.

"Believe it or not, I hitched a ride on Meatlug, and she brought Hiccup and I here. She was being held by Fishlegs, but Hiccup got her free, and I hopped along for the ride. So your real name is Thunderwing, huh?"

_Yes, my true dragon name is Thunderwing, but I prefer to be called Spark by you humans, since that is the name that you gave me. It is fitting, and I happen to like it. Come, let me show you the young!_

Spark led me to where the little baby skrills were playing. Lightning bolts arced off of them endlessly, making the air tingle with electricity. Jolt picked up one, and he felt an immediate rush of energy as all of the electricity coursed into him. He put the baby down, and it promptly ran back to its friends.

"So which ones are yours?" asked Jolt.

Spark smiled, leading me to a purple female and her baby, a bright blue skrill.

_This is my mate Stealthscales and our newest son. He will be named when he has learned control, usually by his fifth or sixth year. As you can see, the babies cannot control their lightning, like I had told you, and until they do, they will remain with their mother. Then they will be released into the world, where they can fend for themselves, find their own territory and their own mate. _

"That's amazing. Somehow I could never picture you as a father," said Jolt, joking.

_Yes well, it takes a little getting used to. Where did Hiccup go off to?_

"He went off to look for Toothless. He figured that he would be here."

Spark shook his head. _Night Furies make their own nests separate from the nesting site. They are so rare that they do not take the trip to the nesting site, instead they stay in their territory and watch over their young. Hiccup won't find Toothless here._

Jolt frowned. If Toothless wasn't here, than where would he be? At his own nest? Did he have a mate of his own? He would just have to figure it out when they got back.

"Well, I'll just have to find him and tell him."

Spark nodded, and Jolt raced off to find his friend. He found Hiccup hiding behind a rock, looking over onto the beach.

"What are you..." started Jolt before he was cut off.

"Just get down and look for yourself," whispered Hiccup. "And keep quiet!"

Jolt bent down next to Hiccup and looked over the boulder. What he saw made him shiver in his boots.

It was Alvin and a boy teenager about the same age as Jolt and Hiccup. That sight alone was enough to strike fear into Jolt's heart, as he had witnessed Alvin's treachery when he had traded with him. But there was something else there, something that scared him even more.

Alvin and the teen rode dragons. Not just any dragons either. Alvin rode a massive Whispering Death while the teen rode a midnight black skrill. The skrill was like none he had ever seen, pure black, almost like it had simply been cut out of the sky and given life. It was definitely a skrill, but it looked almost like it could have been a night fury if one were to stretch their imagination.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" asked Alvin in his usual gruff voice.

"Of course I'm sure. I trained Render for you didn't I? Just trust me," said the teen.

Jolt sucked his breath in quickly, slapping his hand to his mouth to keep him from screaming. It was the voice, the voice from his nightmare so many weeks ago! What had it said? 'Lightning rider, I know you and you know me.' He had no idea what it meant, but he knew it was important somehow.

What scared Hiccup was that the outcasts had dragons, but more importantly a dragon trainer. If that was unleashed on Berk, the war that would follow would be the bloodiest event in Viking history.

"Let's grab the dragons and get out of here, Millicent. We must get the dragons, or the invasion will never work. You can train dragons, but your still nothing like Stoick's excuse for a son. That boy has something special with the beasts that you could never have," said Alvin.

"I know dad, but still, the plan will work with my training. Once we have him, we can fully train the dragons and take over Berk, and then the surrounding islands," said the teen, Millicent.

Hiccup and Jolt both gasped. Alvin had a son? Even Jolt didn't know that, and he had been to Outcast island more times than he could count, and he was a dragon trainer. But there was something that gave Hiccup some breathing room. Apparently Millicent wasn't a good dragon trainer. On the flip side, they still wanted him to train dragons for them, and that meant an attack, or as Alvin had called it, the invasion.

Jolt shifted position to get a better view and snapped a twig from a nearby tree. He froze, desperately hoping that neither Alvin or Millicent had heard that.

They didn't, but the black skrill did. Jolt heard it tell Millicent that someone was behind the boulder, and Millicent turned around smiling. He held out his hand, and Jolt and Hiccup felt themselves being dragged toward Millicent and Alvin. That meant only one thing, Millicent and the skrill had gone through the changing.

Jolt and Hiccup flew into the open, landing in a heap at Millicent's feet.

"Well well well. What have we hear?" asked Alvin, obviously knowing the answer.

"I could ask you the same Alvin," said Hiccup.

"Let's just say I'm stealing reinforcements. My boy Millicent has been more useful than you ever were at training dragons."

"Yes, but he's not very good at it is he?" asked Hiccup. "We heard the whole conversation, Alvin, so there's no need to hide anything. We know what you're up to."

"Well then, there's only one way to deal with this. Millicent, do you want the honors?" asked Alvin.

The teen nodded, smiling evilly. "With pleasure." He sent a bolt of lightning flying toward Jolt. Jolt grabbed his staff out of the holder that he had made on his back, deflecting the blow and sending it careening into a tree. He retaliated with a bolt of his own, but Millicent deflected that too.

"You're a changeling too, huh? I should have know. And a Hawkson too. You must be the 'lightning rider' right. Well, you know what that means, I'm going to kill you brutally," said Millicent, still smiling evilly.

He fired another bolt, but it missed. Alvin, seeing that the fight was going nowhere, joined the fray. He tried to sneak up behind Jolt, but Hiccup got up and faced him off. He pulled out his sword, holding it in front of him menacingly.

"What are you going to do with that toothpick, boy? You don't stand a chance against me," said Alvin, swinging his ax toward Hiccup.

Hiccup dodged instinctively, firing a bolt of fire at Alvin. It hit him square in the chest and his eyes widened in surprise. He got back up and charged Hiccup, but Hiccup managed to throw up a wall of flame in time. Alvin backed off, gesturing to Millicent to return to their dragons.

"We have enough dragons, and we'll get plenty more on Berk. Let's go Millicent, we'll not bother these pests anymore," said Alvin, backing up to his Whispering Death. Millicent ran and vaulted onto his dragon, and they took off quickly.

Before he got too far away, Millicent called back, "This is not the end Lightning Rider! I will kill you, if it is the last thing I do!"


	17. New Plans

Chapter 17: New Plans

Jolt and Hiccup both collapsed onto the sand, breathing heavily. They couldn't believe what had just happened to them, it was all just too incredible. One thing stuck with Jolt though, Millicent knew who he was, and he would stop at nothing to kill him. He decided then and there that he would personally rid the world of his presence.

It was quite obvious who was in charge of the whole operation. Millicent. He had taken command over his father, trained dragons, and now he was going to use them against Berk. The boys needed to get back in order to warn everyone. The invasion could begin any day now, and they had to be ready.

Jolt quickly mounted Spark, but Hiccup just stood on the sand looking around, calling for Toothless. Jolt almost didn't have the heart to tell him, but he did anyway.

"He's not here Hiccup."

Hiccup looked confused. "What do you mean he's not here? All of the other dragons are here."

"Yes, but Spark was telling me before, that if he even went to a nesting site, which he might not have, it would have been a private one, not a large one like this. They're more secretive, so they tend to stay secluded."

Hiccup nodded, accepting the fact. "I'll just have to trust that he'll come back. I'll just ride Hookfang back. I saw him when I was looking for Toothless."

"Sounds good. Meet me in the air in a few minutes."

Hiccup ran off to find Hookfang, and Jolt and Spark took off into the air. Soon enough, Hookfang was airborne too, and they began the journey home. When they were leaving however, all of the other dragons went to follow, even the babies. The babies were not strong enough to counter the strong wind that blew in from the ocean and quickly fell back to the ground.

"I think we started the return migration," said Jolt.

"Yeah, this is never going to work. Oh, wait, I've got just the thing," said Hiccup, racing off with Hookfang.

Jolt followed, and he saw Hiccup heading for an old viking shipwreck. The hull was mostly intact, and there was plenty of ropes to use. Jolt saw Hiccup's idea at once. He helped connect the ropes to the ship and then to the dragons, and they flew the ship back to the island. All of the baby dragons climbed inside, and with the ropes attached to several of the larger islands, the dragons set off for home, at least the Berk dragons did. All of the other wild dragons just ignored the other leaving dragons.

They flew the whole day, switching off carrying the boat to avoid having any dragons collapse, and soon they saw Berk. It was near nightfall, and the dragons dropped off their precious cargo in the village square. The entire village was looking at the dragons with happiness and joy, and when the baby dragons stumbled out of the boat, some nearly swooned with joy. Everyone grabbed their dragons and ran to the Great Hall to celebrate.

It was a joyous feast, everyone reunited with their dragon. Jolt was enjoying himself with a baby Terrible Terror, when he noticed Hiccup sitting alone in the corner, staring at the door. He knew why too, Toothless hadn't shown up yet. Astrid went over to him to comfort him. They hugged, and then Jolt was Toothless sneak into the Great Hall. Astrid tried to distract him until Toothless was almost on top of him, when she then proceeded to shove him at his dragon.

Hiccup looked overjoyed and hugged Toothless tightly. Toothless purred, and then placed something wet, slimy, and metal on Hiccup's head.

"Yeah bud, you found my helmet," said Hiccup, wiping the saliva out of his eyes. "But hey, you found my helmet! Thanks bud. You are amazing."

They celebrated for most of the night, laughing and having a great time. Hiccup hated to ruin it, but he needed to let everyone know what was going on. He gestured to his father, who called for silence. Hiccup had spoken to Stoick about his plans, and he agreed to let Hiccup take the reins. Hiccup stood up in front of the whole village.

"I'm sorry to stop your merrymaking, but I have some grave news to report. Alvin has gotten himself a dragon trainer, his own son. Alvin still wants me because his son, Millicent, is a lousy dragon trainer, but that still does not change the fact that they have dragons too. They are planning an attack, and it could be at any time. This is no need for panic, but first thing tomorrow, we will be holding a war council, and all who are interested are welcome to come. Sharpen your axes and be ready, because Alvin is treacherous, and will stop at nothing to get Berk." Hiccup sat down as the village just stared in silence. Eventually, people snapped out of their stupor to start to ask questions rapid fire, and Hiccup was overwhelmed.

"Silence!" boomed Stoick. "All questions will be answered at the war council tomorrow. Get a good nights rest, as we will be needing every one of you to help in the preparations to come."

Everyone reluctantly left the Great Hall, and settled in for an uneasy rest. Hiccup and Jolt were up most of the night, discussing tactics. It was their last night together, as Jolt was moving into his new house the next day. They were sad to be apart, but heck, they lived just down the street from each other, so they were alright.

One idea that came up in their conversation was whether or not they should reveal their powers. They could be useful in the coming battle, but how would the village accept this new found power? There were too many unknowns, so they decided to ask Stoick. Hiccup knew that he could be trusted, at least he thought he could, if he at least listened to Hiccup. They had a bad history of bad communication, but their communication was getting better.

Hiccup asked Stoick to meet them in the cove. Stoick was a little angry at being woken up at such an early hour, but he reluctantly agreed, waking up Thornado and flying to the cove. Both Hiccup and Jolt were standing there, deep in conversation, but they stopped when they saw Stoick.

"Well, you want to go first or do you want me to," asked Jolt.

"Same time. How about that. 3-2-1 go!" shouted Hiccup. Hiccup shot a blast of fire from his hand and Jolt shot a bolt of lightning. They both exploded violently against the cove walls, bathing the cove in an eerie blue-purple light.

Stoick just stared at the two, who set their arms alight with their powers. In all his years, Stoick had never seen a sight like he had just witnessed. His own boy and his best friend could control fire and lightning, almost like the gods themselves. Was that what they were, gods in disguise? If so, Stoick deserved to die for the way he had treated Hiccup, but he tried to let that fear pass.

He knelt down quickly, removing his helmet respectfully. "Gods spare me!"

Jolt and Hiccup raised their eyebrows at each other. This was new. They weren't expecting Stoick to believe they were gods, but it seemed pretty obvious in retrospect.

"Get up, dad, we're not gods. I'll explain everything," said Hiccup. And he did, from the very beginning. By then, Jolt was getting really tired of repeating the same story over and over, as he had heard it more times than he could count.

When the tale was done, Stoick had to sit down on the boulder behind him. It was just too incredible, all of it. His son and his friend had gained other worldly powers from their dragons, and now Alvin was coming with his own dragons and his own son who had powers like Jolt. He had no idea what to do.

"We wanted to ask you, as you would be the most knowledgeable about this, should we reveal this to the village. It could be useful in the battle to come, but we're not sure how the village will accept us. I mean, it's a little surreal," said Hiccup.

"Well, Hiccup, I think we'll have to keep it secret for know. I'll be sure to use it to our advantage in the battle to come, but if the village finds out, they may want me to banish you. We need you Hiccup, and I will never do that to you. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed, and I suggest that you do the same. We have a big day tomorrow."

They all flew away on their dragons, none of them noticing the old man who hid in the bushes just outside the cove. Mildew grinned. This was too good. It was his ticket to getting the dragons off of Berk. Perhaps he could bargain with Alvin to prevent the attack, and just hand over Hiccup and the dragons. Surely Alvin would leave if that happened, right? Mildew knew just what to do.

Hiccup and Jolt woke to the sounds of an angry mob in the village square. Mildew was standing in the center of it all, yelling at the people. The boys ran to Gobber, who stood on the outside of the mob.

"Fill me in Gobber, what's going on," asked Hiccup, still pulling on his vest.

"Mildew's been spreading some weird rumors about you and the other teens all morning. The village is on the verge of carrying you guys off and tossing you into the ocean. Something about being possessed by devils and being granted powers? It's all ludicrous of course," said Gobber.

Hiccup and Jolt exchanged a look. Mildew's words drifted over to them, as he had started to yell louder.

"So vikings! What are we going to do about these demons?" yelled Mildew.

There were several responses of "Dispose of them!" and "Banish them!". Stoick stumbled out of the house, having been woken up by Mildew's yelling. He looked seriously pissed off, and Hiccup feared for anyone who got in his way.

"What's this all about Mildew?" asked Stoick.

"Your boy and his friends have been possessed by demons and granted powers that are unnatural! You ought to banish them and their dragons immediately!" yelled Mildew.

The boys feigned surprise. "We have powers? Since when? I can't do anything spectacular, besides, you know, training dragons, but no extra powers," said Hiccup.

"Yeah, I guess we never got the message. How did you know Mildew? Could you tell us the secret of these 'powers'?" asked Jolt.

Stoick had to hold in a laugh. The boys were playing their part well, but it was just too funny how they said it.

"I've seen it with my own eyes, so don't try to disprove it to me!"

"Well, Mildew, your eyesight must be going. We can't do anything spectacular or other worldly, so I don't know what your talking about," said Jolt shrugging.

Mildew grew frustrated and threw a nearby ax at Jolt. Jolt reacted instinctively, grabbing the spinning ax by the handle, flipping in mid air, and flinging the ax right back at Mildew. The ax missed his face by a hair's breadth, shaving off most of his whiskers. Mildew looked like he was going to die from fright.

"You see? That's unnatural!" yelled Mildew.

"I don't see what's so unnatural about having good reflexes Mildew. The boy has obviously been training for some time now, and he's gotten good too. You'll need more evidence than that to get them banished, I'm afraid," said Stoick.

Mildew stalked away grumbling. The villagers disbanded, going about their normal routine.

"Well there's your answer for how the villagers would accept our powers," said Jolt.

"Yeah, let's _really_ keep this secret, or Mildew will get us thrown out of here before you can say 'dragon'," said Hiccup.

Everyone congregated in the Great Hall for the war council. Everyone was interested in the events that would happen, and none wanted to be left out. Stoick quieted everyone down and began the council.

"As I Hiccup said last night, Alvin is preparing for an attack on Berk with dragons. We have reason to believe that the attack is going to be soon. We're going to need to strengthen the defenses, including more catapults and getting as many warriors as we can. Hiccup will verse all who want in the weaknesses of dragons that we can exploit in the coming battle," said Stoick.

Other suggestions were put forth, and a plan was developed for the protection of the village. Everyone broke off to their posts, and most of the villagers marched off to the forge to get weapons. Gobber and Hiccup had their work cut out for them, and they were busy all day distributing and making new weapons for the protection of the village.

After working in the forge for the day, Hiccup took up his post as sentry, flying around the island looking for any signs of an attack. Jolt was assigned to Hiccup's time slot as well, and they both flew in different patterns, resting at different times in order to stay awake and rested. Nothing showed during their sentry duty, and they quickly grew bored.

At the end of their watch, just as they were about to head in for the night, Jolt noticed something rather odd.

"Bit late for our ships to be that far out in the bay don't you think?" asked Jolt.

Hiccup looked where he pointed, and he saw it too. There were about two dozen ships hiding in the shadow of the rock spires just outside of the port. The ships flew a black flag that was decorated with a viking helmet and skull with two crossed axes behind it. The symbol of a pirate.

"Those aren't our ships. They're pirates," said Hiccup. Upon further inspection, he saw a Whispering Death aboard one of the ships, along with several other dragons.

"And it looks like Alvin and his gang are with them too," said Hiccup. "Just great," he said with his usual sarcastic tone in his voice.

"We need to warn the village," said Jolt, and he flew with as much speed as he could.

"The attack is here! Ready your weapons! Defend Berk!" yelled Jolt as he flew over the village, waking up every warrior in the village.

Jolt and Hiccup landed by the docks. They looked over the fierce warriors before them.

"The battle for Berk, begins now!" said Jolt, raising his staff up dramatically, just as the horrible metal and fire spitting machines began to boom from the ships.


	18. The First Battle for Berk

Chapter 18: The First Battle for Berk

Soon after the booming of the massive metal and fire spitting machines, metal spheres started to crash into the shoreline of Berk, taking out a few warriors with them. The metal spheres destroyed everything in their path, not stopping until they hit something solid, like a cliff face. One landed near Hiccup and Toothless, and they dodged out of the way in time.

Hiccup approached the metal sphere and he saw a small flame worm its way into the center of the metal ball. Hiccup's eyes widened in shock. He had seen enough bombs made by Ruffnut and Tuffnut to know that this thing was explosive. He ran as far as he could before a deafening blast erupted behind him, sending him flying forward and toward the water.

Toothless jumped up quickly, catching Hiccup. Hiccup clicked his leg into the stirrup and they started to fly toward the ships.

"Come on! We need to take the fight to them!" he yelled.

All of the vikings who could ride, of which there were few, mounted their dragons and took off. Only the dragon trainers, Stoick, and a handful of others actually knew how to fly, because most of the other vikings only used their dragons for jobs or pets, like horses or dogs, which is mostly why the changing was not more widespread. Most of the other dragons took off on their own, realizing that the ships in the sea were enemies.

The dragon riders began to rain fire down on the ship, setting their sails and hulls alight. The men manning the machines swiveled them and aimed them at the dragons, firing again and again, the resounding boom filling the air with sound. The shots mostly missed, but some of them clipped the dragons and riders, causing some minor injuries.

Alvin and his warriors mounted their dragons and took to the skies, attacking the dragons that had attacked their ship. They attacked viciously, hurling everything they had at the dragons and their riders.

While the battle continued in the air, the fight down below was just getting started. The pirates, realizing that their ships were burning out from under them, started to row toward the shore. When they were close enough to jump to shore, the pirates leaped off of the ship and mounted ramps for the metal and fire spitting machines. They lined the machines up on the beach, aiming them at the Berk villagers, intent on total destruction.

Gobber, who was always a resourceful thinker, ran to the forge as quickly as he could. Ripping open the door, he saw just what he was looking for. Hiccup's old bola launcher, or at least a replica of his old one, since the original had been smashed when he had shot down Toothless. Gobber knew something about operating it, but he would have to figure it out as he went. He grabbed the machine with one hand and a dozen bolas with the other and ran off to a cliff above the beach.

He opened up the device, aiming it at the men firing the machines, and fired. Gobber was not expecting the amount of bucking he received when the device fired, but the bola hit its mark, ensnaring two of the six shooters. Gobber grabbed two large rocks to anchor the bola launcher, and aimed and shot again. He was able to pick off the men a few at a time, but he quickly ran out of bolas. In an act of desperation, he grabbed a few rocks laying nearby and loaded them up. It worked surprisingly well, and if the rocks fit into the machine, they could fire with almost pinpoint accuracy.

With Gobber keeping the pirate's heads down, the Berk warriors were able to charge and take on the pirates. Most of the pirates fought with cutlasses, a weapon pretty much unknown to the vikings, but the villagers, with their superior axes and swords, were able to overpower them. That is, until Gobber ran out of rocks. The pirates began to fire with the machines again, and the vikings were forced to retreat.

In the air, the dragons and their riders were locked in a deadly struggle. Alvin's Whispering Death was in battle with Toothless, and Hiccup was trying to use his fire powers discretely, which was harder said then done. Every once in a while, when he wasn't steering Toothless, he would fire a quick shot, just to keep Alvin's head down.

Jolt was locked in a battle of his own, but unlike Hiccup, he made no move to keep his powers secret. Fighting Millicent, it was all he could do to stay alive. They sent bolt after bolt of lightning at each other, skrill and human alike, until the air stung of electricity. They fought back and forth, neither side giving up. The fight was exhausting, but both sides refused to back down.

The other teens were in battles of their own, all trying to keep their opponent incapacitated, and trying to stay alive. Out of the corner of Hiccup's eye, he saw Fishlegs shoot a lava blast at his opponent. That was a new one. Hiccup didn't know he could do that. The others had scrapped the idea of hiding their powers, and had gone whole hog against their enemies. Dragons and riders started to fall, mostly from Alvin's side, but some from Berk's side too.

The battle raged on, neither side giving in, and both sides almost equally powerful. Jolt and Millicent were fighting especially hard, due to the clan rivalry between the two that went back generations. Millicent was especially bitter.

"You stupid Hawkson, why don't...you...die?!" screamed Millicent, emphasizing the last words with bolts of lighting.

"I could ask you the same Rockaway. You seem more stubborn than me, and that's hard to come by," said Jolt, firing a bolt at Millicent from his staff. "You can't even train dragons well. Look around you, not many of the dragons you trained are listening to you."

It was true. Most of Alvin's dragons fighters were experiencing troubles with their dragons. They were unresponsive, choosing to do their own thing rather than what their rider wanted.

Millicent smiled evilly. "That will all change very soon." Then, without warning, he called back to his forces, "Retreat!"

All the pirates boarded the skeletons of their ships and fled as fast as they could, and the dragons all flew off. They met up at one of the lower rock spires, and everyone met up to come up with a new strategy.

"We did it!" shouted someone in the crowd of villagers.

"No! This isn't over. Regroup and refresh yourselves! They'll attack again soon!" yelled Stoick.

The Riders of Berk, the teens, joined up by the forge to discuss strategy.

"Hiccup, they're coming for you. I think that was most of their purpose for coming here. The real battle is yet to come," said Jolt.

"Yeah, I know. We need to think. Those weapons that they had, the metal spitting ones, we need to immobilize those. I liked what Gobber did with the Mangler," said Hiccup. The Mangler was what he had christened the bola launcher when he had first designed it. "I forgot that I still had that thing."

Jolt's mind was spinning, his brain coming up with an idea that just might work.

"Alright guys, I've got an idea. I'll need your help with it Hiccup. You know the power of the maelstrom right?" he asked.

Hiccup nodded, not seeing where he was going with it.

"Well, what if we make a bomb that could harness the power of the maelstrom? A force like that could easily take out at least three of the pirates' ships at once. I've got some ideas, but I want to hear what you think," said Jolt.

He began to explain his idea, sketching it out on a spare piece of paper. The idea was simple, a metal canister, encased in leather, with a glass capsule inside. Jolt, or Spark, would charge the metal cylinder, and inside the glass capsule, Hiccup or Toothless would place their fire. If the bomb was thrown hard enough, the glass would break, the two would come in contact, and viola, one maelstrom made to order. The leather on the outside was to protect the thrower from being shocked.

Hiccup agreed that the idea was sound and they both set about making seven of them, one for every one of the Riders. They were fairly simple to make, and they were able to crank them out quickly. The bombs, which Jolt named Maelstrom Makers, were extremely fragile, so they had to be handled with care. Once all the bombs were charged, Hiccup made one more, just to test and see if it worked.

He flew up on Toothless, flying over to an empty rock spire on the opposite side of the island. They couldn't have Alvin and the pirates figuring out their secret weapon could they? Hiccup launched the Maelstrom Maker at the spire and flew away quickly. There was a crashing sound and the familiar blue ball of energy formed before exploding violently, taking out most of the rock spire.

"I would say that works, don't you think?" said Hiccup, who landed right next to Jolt.

"I'll say so. I think I need to clean out my ears after a blast like that, I can barely hear anything that was so loud," said Jolt.

"Looks like we're ready," said Astrid, putting her Maelstrom Maker in a pocket of her saddle bag.

"Yes, and now we wait," said Hiccup, staring out at where all of the pirates were sitting, plotting who knew what. Soon enough, they began to get into their ships and sail toward Berk again. Alvin's dragons took off, rather reluctantly, and started flying toward Berk too.

Hiccup heard the all too familiar signal horn from the beach that signaled an attack or a dragons raid, although that latter form had been destroyed ever since the dragons had been tamed. The Riders flew down to the beach, ready to confront the pirates.

"Alright, here's the plan. Ruff, Tuff, take you Maelstrom makers and try to destroy the ships. Use them wisely, you only have one remember. Everyone else, focus on taking out the other dragons," said Hiccup, being the leader as always. He was feeling confidant, until he saw the other ships floating on the horizon.

"Odin help us, they have more," said Hiccup.

"We'll just have to deal with these here, and worry about those others later," said Fishlegs.

"Alright Riders, time to show them what we're made of," said Hiccup. Surprisingly, no one had approached them about their powers, but Hiccup guessed it was probably because everyone was too busy fighting. Before he could think again, the battle began again.

The dragons took off, racing to get to the enemy and take them out early. Jolt saw Barf and Belch take off toward the ships, Ruffnut and Tuffnut readying their Maelstrom Makers. He heard the crash and then the telltale sounds of the maelstrom at work. When he looked down, all of the ships were destroyed, nothing more than charred bits of wood floating on the ocean. Unfortunately, the pirates had already gotten themselves and the machines off of the ships, and were already busy firing on Berk.

Jolt met up with Millicent and the two went back to their fighting.

"You dare use the power of the maelstrom against me?! That is a force you cannot hope to control!" yelled Millicent.

"But somehow I have Millicent! And that's all that matters now. Your ships are gone," replied Jolt.

"On the contrary, my friend. This is only the beginning. And now there's something that I'd like you to meet. Say hello to the dreamstone!" said Millicent before hurling a black rock at Jolt.

Jolt dodged the stone, but it hit Spark square on the jaw. Immediately he felt Spark go limp, falling into a deep slumber fast. There was nothing Jolt could do, and he only watched as his dragon plummeted to the earth. Thankfully they landed in a field of soft moss, or the impact may have killed them.

Try as Jolt might, he couldn't wake Spark. He was out cold, and nothing he did could change that. He stood by his dragon, ready to protect him at all costs.

Some of the pirates found him, and they started to fight their way toward the sleeping dragon. Jolt somehow managed to fend off the dozen pirates with his staff, using his powers to keep them at a distance, but he was tiring quickly. He felt Spark wake up behind him, and he silently thanked the gods that he was alright.

Spark got up quickly, firing tons of lightning and taking out all of the pirates at once. He turned to Jolt, and his face looked almost, apologetic.

_I'm sorry Jolt. It's the only way._ Jolt was puzzled, but he didn't stay that way for long, as Spark headbutted him right between the eyes, and he dropped like a stone, out cold.

Spark looked at his handiwork. It was the only way to protect him, as he knew that the dark skrill could detect changelings with his mind, but it only worked if the target was sleeping or awake, and since Jolt was doing neither, he was undetectable. Now to distract the pirates until they could be vanquished, and then all would right.

He raced to the village, firing bolts of lightning at every pirate he could see. When he got the beach though, what he saw turned his heart cold.

All of the Riders were caged and on new ships that had come in. They all looked to be asleep, or passed out at least. He had to save them.

He flew in, trying to fire bolts of lightning to free his friends, but before he could get far, he felt something poke him in the back of the head. He fell started to fall asleep quickly, slamming to the ground.

Just before he fell winked out, he heard Millicent say, "We have what we need. The Lightning Rider is dead. Bring the skrill and the others. They are all part of the plan, and soon all the world will be ours."

Spark then fell into a deep sleep.

**Hello fellow readers. I just want to remind you to please review. I really like the feedback so that I can make an even better story for you guys. If you have any ideas, I would really appreciate hearing them.**


	19. The Wings

Chapter 19: The Wings

Jolt woke up in the woods with a massive headache, and no idea how he had gotten there. He thought back to his most recent memories, and it all came rushing back. The battle. Being knocked out of the sky. Spark headbutting him. After that, just black. He needed to find out what was going on.

Jolt stumbled his way to the village, still disoriented from his unexpected nap. When he got to he village and saw it in shambles, he knew that he had missed something big. Also, there was a distinct lack of angry pirates or Alvin, so he guessed that was a good sign. He walked over to where Stoick stood, staring out into the ocean.

"Sir, what happened? I'm sorry, I got knocked out," said Jolt.

Stoick just stared out at the horizon.

"Stoick? Yoohoo! Anyone home?" said Jolt, waving his hand in front of Stoick's face. Stoick snapped out of his trance and seemed to notice Jolt for the first time.

"Jolt! You're alive! I thought that you had been carried off with the others," said Stoick, hugging the boy.

"What others?" Jolt asked when he could get his breath back.

"All of the dragons and then all of the dragon trainers, including my son. We have no dragons, and they destroyed our fleet. We were hopelessly outmatched when the dragons fell. Alvin's boy, Millicent, threw these weird black rocks at the dragons, and they all fell asleep. He just waltzed in, grabbed them and the teens, and sailed away, setting fire to the ships in the process. I don't know what to do. They went back to Outcast Island, that I know, but we can't get to them with no ships. I just don't know what to do," said Stoick, barely holding in tears.

Jolt was taken aback. All of his friends and all of the dragons, just gone? Why? And how could he get them back? He had no idea.

Jolt went back to the forge to hammer some metal, just to get his anger out. It was one of those things that he had taken to doing on Berk when he was mad or depressed. It took his mind off of things just to work, so he did. He worked himself to the ground, hammering out bent swords and remaking ax heads, and there were a lot from the battle.

He took a break from his pounding, wiping the sweat from his brow. It was hard work, but he felt better. He looked around the forge. Maybe there was something there that could help him. He looked in Hiccup's workroom. Nothing.

When he looked in the loft, though, he stumbled on a better find. There in the corner was a strange contraption. It appeared to be just a pack that one would wear on their back, and there was plenty of metal, gears, and springs, but he had no idea what it did. Knowing how explosive some of Hiccup's inventions were, he took the device outside.

He put his arms through the two arm straps and tied them securely. This put the pack in a perfect position on the small of his back. He saw two catches attached to strings that led to the pack. He flipped them, and the strings were released, flying forward on a small track.

He felt a weight shift on his back, and he looked behind him to see what was different. He gasped at the sight of it.

Wings. He was wearing a pair of mechanical wings. They were amazingly designed, and incredibly lightweight, for being made of metal. The metal it was made of didn't look like anything he had ever seen before, it was more white than steel would look, and much lighter. The wings were similar in shape to night fury wings, and he was sure that was where Hiccup got the inspiration. The leather that covered the wings was amazingly strong, durable, and light. It was amazing.

But the question remained, could it fly? There was only one way for Jolt to test this one, he needed to fly it.

He ran to the top of a small ledge after pulling the wings back in. All that took was to pull the strings back to their start positions and click them into their catches.

He opened the wings, feeling the wind hit them. He took a running start, then leaped as hard and as far as he could off of the ground. He felt the wind under the wings, felt them stiffen and level out. He was doing it! He was flying! Granted, it didn't last long, and he could only glide, but it still worked, and it was amazing.

Then Jolt got an idea, a crazy idea that was so insane it just might work. He would need some supplies though. He ran to where Spark usually slept. He had recently shed his scales, and that was exactly what Jolt was after. He knew that they attracted lightning, so Jolt had the crazy notion to attach them to the wings and use them to get speed and height.

He grabbed a whole bucketful of scales, brought it to the workshop, and got to work. The scales were hard to work with, but Jolt discovered that if they were heated they became much more easy to hammer out, and before long he had two flexible plates of solid scales. He laced them onto the wings, right in the middle of each wing. These were the strike panels that would give him all of his speed and height, and it was the only way his plan was going to work.

It was ludicrous, his plan. He had no idea if it was even possible. The wings were new, untested, but he had to try. For Hiccup. He was going to fly to Outcast Island and free his friends and the dragons, and take down Alvin and Millicent once and for all.

He put the pack on again, throwing Switchblade in his belt but leaving Edger, it was just too much weight. He grabbed his staff in hand, which he had nicknamed Striker, and headed off to tell Stoick his plan.

He was just walking by one of the major cliffs of Berk, looking for a good takeoff spot, when he spotted the mob.

"Oh not again," he said to himself under his breath.

"There he is Stoick! Banish the boy! We all saw what he and those other teens did. It's unnatural! I will not rest until he, like the dragons, is off the island!" yelled Mildew, and the crowd roared their approval.

"Look, I don't want any trouble. I'm going to have to ask you to move, because I need to talk to Stoick," said Jolt calmly.

"Why don't you make me, boy," said Mildew snidely.

"Alright then," said Jolt, letting lightning ripple all over his arms. "Are you sure you want that?"

"See? This is just what I'm talking about. He's a demon! Get him out of here Stoick!" yelled Mildew.

Jolt, completely oblivious to Mildew, said to Stoick, "I'm going after them."

"How? We have no ships, and no dragons. So how do you plan on getting there?" asked Stoick.

Jolt just smiled. "You'll see." He then gestured to the crowd. "As for my powers, they only came to me when I befriended, truly befriended my dragon, and he granted me a gift. Now I'm going after Hiccup and the dragons, and you can't do anything about it."

And with that word, he ran to the cliff edge and threw himself off of it.

"Ha! I knew the boy would snap at some point," said Mildew.

Kyle looked like he was going to throw himself off of the cliff too. Jolt was his firstborn, his favorite son. How could he do that to him. He almost cried, but he held it in. Vikings don't cry.

Suddenly the crowd gasped and started pointing and shouting. Kyle looked up and saw Jolt flying through the air, and he had wings. At first he thought that his son had grown wings, but he soon saw that they were made of metal and leather, and strangely, dragon scales.

Jolt reveled in the feeling of flight. With a dragon was one thing, but on your own, it was indescribable. He managed to hit an updraft, and he coasted on the wind for a while. He held his staff out in front of him when he started to lose altitude. Time to test him plan.

He fired a bolt of lightning at the cloud just ahead of him. He saw the cloud grow dark, filling with the crackle of electricity. Jolt knew that a skrill's white fire sped up this process, but he had never received that from Spark. He prayed to every god he knew for this to work.

Soon he felt the tingle of the hairs on his neck standing up, and he knew that it was coming. The air snapped, and he felt the rush of wind as he was suddenly propelled forward at supersonic speed, the world flashing beneath him in the blink of an eye.

The feeling was incredible, a rush so big that his body could hardly contain it. Know he knew that his plan would work. He would make it, and he would save his friends.

He flew like this for a while, firing a bolt every once in a while to boost his speed. He sent a silent message to all of his friends and all of the dragons that were a world away.

I'm coming. And I will free you.

**Yeah, I know, short chapter, but I did update twice in one day. What's a guy to do. Anyway, please review. I need the feedback.**


	20. To Trust Dragons

Chapter 20: To Trust Dragons

Hiccup woke up in a rather dark and dank cell. He felt like something had wormed its way into his head and smashed his brain into little pieces, and his brain was throbbing like crazy. He groaned and leaned back against the cold stone wall as the memories came rushing back. Millicent tossing two black stones at him and Toothless, and then falling asleep almost immediately. He knew that he must be on Outcast Island. In fact, when he looked around his cell, nothing more than a cave cut out of the stone of the mountain with a patchwork metal gate, it looked fairly familiar. He remembered why. Alvin had captured him no less than four times in the last two months, some that even his father and friends didn't even know about, but he always managed to escape.

The cell he was being held in was the same cell he had been kept in all of those times. You would think that Alvin would learn that Hiccup knew the way out of the cell by now, but Alvin never learned.

"No place like home, right?" he muttered to himself. He searched the back wall for evidence of the secret door that he had discovered the last time he had been held there. Although Alvin didn't know it, the island and its mountain were once home to an immense civilization, and they had created a massive network of tunnels and cities inside the mountain. Hiccup had explored a vast majority of them, and he had a map of the various tunnels in his notebook back on Berk.

Hiccup looked around for the longest time, but the door he had previously found had disappeared, vanished. As he kept searching however, he saw a sharp indent in the cave wall in the place where Hiccup vaguely remembered the door being. He groaned. That meant that Alvin had found the door and had collapsed the tunnel, and he would have to find another way out of the cell.

Savage came around with his meal, and a written note from Alvin. Hiccup almost laughed.

"Hm, I didn't know Alvin could read, let alone write," he said grinning at Savage. He was rewarded for that comment with a sharp smack to the face. Ah, but it was worth it.

He settled into his sparse meal, nothing more than hardy vegetables and a small portion of meat and a small cup of water. The note from Alvin was somewhat surprising, seeing as it didn't really sound like it was from Alvin, but rather from Millicent.

'You will reveal your secrets boy, or your dragon and your friends are dead. And you'd better tell me what became of the Lightning Rider, or you'll see that you don't really need all of your fingers after all.'

Yup, definitely Millicent. Hiccup had to say he was impressed. He would have never expected such a good threat from Millicent, he had always seemed a little slow.

No sooner had he thought that when, speak of the devil, Millicent walked into his cell.

"Ah, yes, my friend Hiccup. How are we this evening?" he asked cackling.

"Just fine thank you. You may want to tell your cook to learn some basic skills. I'm pretty sure my chicken leg is still alive," said Hiccup grinning.

Millicent angrily picked up the tray of food and smacked Hiccup over the head with it. Luckily, Hiccup had been around Ruffnut and Tuffnut long enough to know how to take a strong hit to the head.

"You think this is some sort of joke?! I have your friends and I will kill them!" yelled Millicent, borderline insane.

"Okay, okay. Gosh no need to get you hair in a twist," said Hiccup, sarcastic as always.

"Tell me how to train dragons. My attempts have been successful, to a point, but the dragons are still unresponsive. Remember, I have your friends and your dragon, and I will not hesitate to kill them."

Hiccup just shrugged. "I don't know, dragons just like me. What can I say, I've just got that kind of charm about me, if you know what I mean," said Hiccup laughing. That got him a sharp kick to the shins. Man, he needed to put a chain on his mouth.

"That's it! Guards, give him no food or water for a two days. We'll see how chipper you are then," said Millicent, stalking out of the cell.

"Well that went well," said one of the guards. Millicent responded by drawing out a knife and stabbing him in the gut.

"Shut up! I no longer want to hear you speak!"

The guard dropped to the ground, groaning for a minute before going silent, and Hiccup knew instinctively that he was dead. He needed to get out of here, and fast.

He spent the rest of the day coming up with various escape ideas, but none made sense. As he was thinking, he was playing with a small ball of fire. Could he melt the gate? No, that would take too long, and he was bound to be noticed. He extinguished the fire, and suddenly gasped as he remembered something else that he could do.

He stood in the shadows and focused on blending in. He watched as his skin turned a purple-black, the shade of shadows. The color melted its way into his clothes, allowing him to blend into the shadows perfectly. He couldn't do any other colors, he knew because he had already tried, but this was the night fury's color, the color of night. And Hiccup knew just what he was going to do.

He hid in the shadows in the back of the cell, not making a sound. The guard, who was very suspicious of the lack of sound, turned around to see no one in the cell. He opened the door, stepping onto the cell to get a better look. Before he knew it, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, and then proceeded to pass out. Hiccup materialized behind him.

It was almost too easy. Hiccup took the guard's uniform and the keys and exchanged them for his own. Oddly enough, they happened to be about the same size and build, which was useful. He pushed the body into the corner, hiding his face. If anyone were to look quickly enough, it would look just like Hiccup was there, sleeping.

Hiccup sneaked out of the cell, careful to make himself look as much like an Outcast as he could. It worked, and every guard he came across just gave him a nod and walked on. They had their duties, so what would they care for what looked like a new guard in training, but still, Hiccup tried to keep his face hidden.

He was almost in the clear, working his way to the dragons' holding cells, when he ran into none other than Millicent himself. Hiccup had made sure to pull his pants down low enough to hide his fake leg, as that was especially revealing. It was strange to see a viking or an Outcast with long pants, but it was something Hiccup was fond of, and he hoped the Outcasts used the same styles.

Apparently, with the change of clothes and the hidden leg, Millicent didn't recognize Hiccup.

"Ah, what would your name be, new recruit?" he asked, sounding almost sincere.

"Uh...Stalker, sir. The name's Stalker," said Hiccup quickly. He had no idea why he chose Stalker, it was just the first name that popped into his head.

"Well Stalker, don't you have some place to be?"

"Um, yes! I was just going to go and feed the dragons their meal," said Hiccup. He cursed mentally. The Outcasts weren't that nice.

Millicent screwed his eyes in confusion. "Who told you to do this?"

"Um, Alvin, sir! Yes, he wanted them kept healthy for the attack," replied Hiccup.

"Well I guess that make sense. Now run along, and take care of that night fury well. Alvin wants that one particularly..." he said before noticing something odd about the boy named Stalker. He only wore one boot. He would be very young for an amputee, and there were none he knew off. Looking at the boy's face, he instantly knew who it was.

Hiccup saw the knowledge reach Millicent's eyes and turned to run, but he was dragged back by that same attractive force that Jolt always used. He was dragged back into the guards, who cuffed him quickly.

"Well, well, Hiccup. You are certainly the sharpest sword in the armory, you almost had me there. But you should know something, no one escapes me, at least not alive anyway," said Millicent, chuckling at his own joke.

"Come, let's see how good Hiccup really is at training dragons," he said, gesturing for the guards to follow him. The made their way toward the dragon killing arena, where Hiccup was thrown onto the ground and tied down onto a wood log in the center of the arena.

"You know Hiccup, you should feel honored. It's not often that I dispose of unruly guests this way. You are one of the first, and its sad to see you go, but I can still get the secrets out of your dead skull, so you don't need to be alive for my plan to work." Millicent laughed evilly.

"How does that work? You'd need me alive to tell you everything," said Hiccup angrily.

"Ah yes, but there is a skill my dragons possesses that allows him to invade the minds of others and retrieve memories, even after their dead. I didn't want to kill you at first because I liked you Hiccup, but you're too defiant for me. I thought I could make you see the light, but I was mistaken. And now, let's see what you can do against an entire pack of Horrible Manglers," said Millicent, laughing again evilly. He pulled the lever, and a whole horde of the dragons poured out.

Hiccup gasped. Of course, he knew all about Horrible Manglers. They were only just bigger than a Terrible Terror, but they had razor sharp fangs and claws and were known to kill anything in sight. They were ruthless killers, and even one was bad, but a whole pack? Hiccup didn't know how he'd survive.

As soon as the dragons poured out, Hiccup tried to remain completely still, trying to send soothing and trusting vibes to the angry dragons. The Horrible Manglers acted curious, circling the boy, but never touching him. Hiccup started to hear all of their voices filter into his head.

_What is this thing?_

_ It smells funny._

_ It seems nice enough._

_ Let's eat it!_

_ No, lets watch and see what it does._

And with that, all of the Manglers formed a circle around Hiccup and stared at the boy, waiting for him to make a move.

"So, how's living around here? I mean, my place was pretty good, don't get me wrong, but you guys, you guys must get the extra special treatment," said Hiccup. Horrible Manglers were a member of the sharp class, and they were incredibly vain, or so the Book of Dragons said, but no one had seen a Mangler for a few decades, so it was hard to tell.

_It talks too much._

_ But it sounds nice._

_ I like him._

_ Let's eat him!_

_ What is it with you and eating everything?_

_ I like food, what can I say._

_ Let's see what it says next._

Again, they all stared at Hiccup expectantly. The constant stream of voices was starting to hurt his head, and he really didn't like that one voice that always wanted to eat him, who Hiccup assumed was the red Mangler who was literally salivating by Hiccup's kneecap. It was kind of gross, as Hiccup had missed Bath Day for a few weeks, and he smelled horrible.

"How much food do you guys get. It must be a lot, you being great dragons and all," said Hiccup, still trying to appeal to their sense of vanity.

_You know he's got a point. _

_ We don't get fed nearly enough. _

_ I'm, hungry!_

_ We are great dragons, worthy of much food._

_ Yeah, so let's eat it!_

_ Stop trying to eat it! Besides, there's not much on it anyway._

"Ok guys, I need you to help me out. I'm promising you a huge basket of fish back on Berk if you guys could just go up there and attack that guy. The one with his hand on the lever? Can you do that for me?" said Hiccup in a hushed tone.

_Hm, a whole basket full of fish._

_ And a home._

_ And we get to take that annoying man-child. _

_ Alright we accept. Take him down, brothers!_

Without another word the whole flock jumped up and flew toward Millicent, whose face widened in shock. Even though he was behind the bars of the cage, the fire could still reach him, and he yelped as one set his pants on fire. He tried to run, but everywhere he went, the Manglers followed, and the only way out was on the opposite side of the arena.

Meanwhile, Hiccup was hard at work trying to melt his way through the shackles. It was hard though, as the shackled were cast iron, a metal with a fairly high melting point. He gave up on melting and pulled out his lock-pick set from its compartment in his boot.

Hiccup had installed that every since his third kidnapping, and he had kept the tools in pristine condition, practicing every once in a while to keep himself fresh. He worked his way through the lock and was soon free. He ran toward the door, only to find Millicent racing out of it too, right behind him. They burst out into the crisp night air, stumbling over each other in the process.

They both got up, and the Manglers raced after Millicent, who ran away as fast as he could, spouting out hundreds of curses at Hiccup and his whole family.

Hiccup smiled. He was gone for now, and he had to capitalize on that. He was about to run to the dragons' cells when he saw a strange winged figure on the horizon.

It looked to be human, but it had wings like a dragon, wings that looked vaguely familiar. He couldn't place where he'd seen them before.

Jolt, who Hiccup had seen, spotted Hiccup as well and flew over to him. This was the part he had never thought about, landing. He flew as slow as he could toward the ground, pulling the wings closed to prevent tearing. He landed hard, but he was otherwise unhurt.

"Hey Hiccup. How did you get out?" asked Jolt gasping to regain his breath from the fall.

"Long story. I see you found the Dragon Wings. I was wondering if those would work or not," said Hiccup.

"Well they work marvelously. Now let's focus on getting everyone out of here," said Jolt determinedly.


	21. Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire

Chapter 21: Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire

Jolt and Hiccup discussed ideas for an escape attempt, and they both agreed that they needed to free the dragons first. Hiccup knew where there was a tunnel that led to a cell just outside of the dragon containment cells. The entrance to the tunnel, unfortunately, was by the main entrance to the Outcast Fortress. It was heavily guarded, and they would have to use extreme caution to get to the entrance.

Since Hiccup was already dressed as an Outcast, he had to be the distraction so that Jolt could sneak up behind and brain the six guards that were watching over the gate. It was a risky venture, but Hiccup had shown that his disguise worked before, especially when the guards didn't actually know who he was. Hiccup was scared that it wouldn't work, but he had done stupider ideas before. Hiccup shuddered at the thought of the chicken egg heist. Who knew that angry chickens could actually be harmful? Hiccup and the teens figured that one out the hard way.

In fact, just living with the teens was usually a stupid idea, as they were constantly getting into trouble, especially the twins. They were always up to something, some harebrained scheme that was bound to get them into trouble, and Hiccup had learned rather early on to roll with the punches, and he also learned how to get himself out of a situation, and he was an expert in worming his way out of most any situation. Gobber and his father were the only exceptions, as Hiccup tended to shut up around them rather fast because he respected their authority, but everyone else was fair game.

Hiccup walked over to the guards, trying to act like he had a purpose for being there, his leg hidden beneath his long pants. He kept his head down, and tried to just walk through, but he knew that he was going to be stopped.

"Wow there son, what be your business," asked one of the guards.

"I have a message for Alvin from one of the captains. He didn't give me a name," said Hiccup.

"May I ask the nature of this message?" asked the same guard, who Hiccup guessed was the head guard.

"Top secret. He said not to share it with anyone but Alvin. Now if you'd please let me through, the message is quite urgent," said Hiccup, playing the part well.

The head guard looked suspicious. He found it hard to believe that a captain would send a top secret and urgent message through a fifteen year old boy. It just wasn't safe. Of course, he didn't get to think long before he was brained with a large stone from behind. The other guards looked confused, but they swiftly followed.

"Man, what took you so long? They were almost on to me," said Hiccup.

"Sorry, I accidentally ran into a small group of guards. They're all sleeping rather nicely now, thanks to me, but you played your part well. You had me pretty well convinced," said Jolt.

"Yeah, well, time for sentiment later. Now let's get to the door and get everyone out of here," said Hiccup.

Jolt nodded, and they walked silently to the location of the secret entrance. The door was almost invisible, carved so perfectly out of the rock that it blended into the cliff face. With a firm push and a slide, the door swung open on perfectly balanced hinges.

"Got to admit, whoever built these door were quite the designers," mused Hiccup.

They walked single file through the tunnel in silence, commenting once or twice on the design of the tunnel system. Hiccup used the memory of the map that he had drawn and managed to find his way around fairly well. They almost got lost once or twice because the maze of tunnels was so intricate, so complex, that one could almost get lost without moving, but luckily Hiccup had a good memory and led them through well.

When they finally reached the dragon holding cell door, it was easy to push open from the inside. Luckily no guards walked by, or they would have been chicken feed.

They crept their way into the holding cells, where somehow there were no guards. Hiccup managed to pick the locks on their two dragons cells, and they greeted their dragons warmly.

"Hey bud, I missed you," said Hiccup, hugging Toothless tightly.

_And I you. We need to find the others and get them out of here. The Outcasts are growing bolder by the day,_ said Toothless.

"Agreed. Now let's free the others," said Jolt.

"Not so fast," said an all too familiar voice. The two boys turned around to see a smiling Millicent.

"I'd like to see you fight against my own minions. A useful skill my dragon managed to glean from the Red Death, the ability to control dragons. Unfortunately they don't respond nearly as well as they do with your method, but it works just the same," said Millicent again, pulling a lever behind him.

Four cells opened up, and they released a Whispering Death, a Monstrous Nightmare, a Nadder, and a Changewing. Their eyes were all the same color, dark as night, just like Millicent's were.

"So, what's your genius plan Hiccup?" asked Jolt, brandishing his staff.

"Um, stay alive? I don't know! They're under some sort of spell. It's four on four, so Jolt, you take the nadder, I'll take the Whispering Death, Toothless, you take Monstrous Nightmare, and Spark, you take the Changewing. Go!" said Hiccup.

Jolt raced for the Nadder immediately, who tried to kill him immediately by hurling a handful of spikes at him. His faster than normal reflexes, thanks to Spark, kept him alive and allowed him to dodge the spikes, but only barely.

"Ok, so you don't like me. I get it. We can change that though," said Jolt, trying to sound calming. The words flew right past the Nadder, and it charged right at him.

It seemed to be devoid of all emotion that dragons usually showed, like the dragon's mind had been taken out and something else had been stuffed back in its place, which was likely true, as Millicent had mentioned that he could control dragons. He needed to find a way to break the spell, but how?

He continued to try and gain the dragon's trust instead of killing it, but it was getting harder and harder as the dragon was getting more aggressive by the second. He needed to just get Millicent out of the Nadder's head, and there was only one way that he could think to do that, knocking out the dragon. A task much easier said than done.

Normally, knocking out a human is fairly simple, you knock them over the head, and they go out. No harm done. To knock out a dragon, you would have to hit it pretty hard over the head to get any kind of response. Luckily they had another weakness that jolt could exploit, but he would have to get close enough to touch it to figure it out.

He dodged a blast of fire from the Nadder, and rolled around until he was in the Nadder's blind spot. Going back to the day that he knocked out Toothless, he scratched it right under the chin, in that one pressure point that would knock them out cold. Of course, Jolt didn't think that when he knocked it out that it would fall forward, pinning him to the ground.

"Everyone! You need to knock them out! It's the only way to get Millicent out of their minds!" he yelled from under the Nadder.

"Little busy here!" said Hiccup, who was amusingly jumping through the Whispering Death's rings of fire like a jump-rope, trying to move closer. Spark was having trouble keeping track of the Changewing, and Toothless was getting rather fed up with the flaming Monstrous Nightmare.

Jolt squirmed his way out from under the Nadder, who was just starting to come around. The Nadder looked extremely confused, its eyes back to their usual color.

"Alright boy, I need your help. It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you," said Jolt, sticking his hand out gently, the way that he had seen Hiccup do. The Nadder shied away at first, but he warmed up to Jolt and nuzzled his hand. Jolt moved around back to stroke the Nadder's tail, and the dragon quickly grew to like the young viking.

Jolt jumped on the Nadder's back, and they rode off to help the others. Jolt knew that he first had to help Spark, which was an easy enough. He had the Nadder shoot a blast of fire at where the Changewing was last, using a continuous stream to search for the invisible dragon. When an outline showed itself, Spark shot out a massive bolt of lightning, paralyzing the dragon and knocking it out cold. The dragon was revealed, and it flopped to the ground.

"Two down, two to go," said Jolt.

He hopped off of the Nadder and mounted Spark, and the three of them ran off to help their friends.

Hiccup almost got to the Whispering Death, even scratched it under the chin, but that didn't seem to work, and the dragon only got more aggravated, flinging Hiccup against the wall.

"Note to self, never do that again," mumbled Hiccup to himself. He got up, dazed, but he shook it off. He had another idea, a crazy idea, but he knew it would work.

Hiccup whistled to Toothless, who had just subdued the Nightmare, and he bounded over to Hiccup.

"Alright bud, blast there, there, there, and there," said Hiccup, pointing out the spots on the roof that were the weakest. Toothless blasted these spots, and Spark joined in as well, cutting out a large chunk of the ceiling above the Whispering Death. With its horrible vision, it never saw the metal coming down until it was too late. The huge dragons collapsed on the ground, completely oblivious to the world.

Quickly, before Millicent could do anything, the boys and their dragons freed the other Berk dragons and led them out of the ring through the whole in the ceiling.

"Go with the dragons, I'm going to go free the others!" said Hiccup.

"Don't go alone!" replied Jolt.

"I know the tunnels better, and I can move faster!"

"Doesn't matter, I'm not letting you go off on your own. Spark can watch out for the dragons," said Jolt.

"You're right. Toothless come here," said Hiccup. He quickly pulled a tool out under Toothless's tail fin apparatus, and fiddled with the machinery until he had disconnected the pedal. He attacked a gear and a rod to Toothless's other tail fin, and soon Toothless was able to fly on his own.

"I know you don't like it Toothless, that you always want to fly with me, but I need you to watch over the other dragon, make sure they get home safe, got that. Oh, but make sure that the teens' dragons stay here. We'll kind of need them to get home," said Hiccup.

_I understand, but I will not leave the island, and neither will Spark. We will stay, but we will direct the others home. Stay safe._

"I will, now go!" said Hiccup. "Come on," he said again, gesturing to Jolt. They ran to the door outside of the ring and shoved it open, closing it behind them. They raced through the network of tunnels, finally coming upon the teens' holding cells.

The teens all looked dejected, tossing rocks at the walls of their cells, occasionally trying to use their powers to escape, but Millicent was too smart for that. He had made the doors much more sturdy, and the teens had no chance of escape. Hiccup and Jolt heard a massive explosion coming from one cell.

"Well, at least we know where Ruffnut and Tuffnut are," said Jolt. The other were easy to identify, and with a deft movement, Hiccup picked each lock on turn.

"Alright, here's the plan. We're going to take the tunnels out of here, and then we're going to fly like Hel home as fast as we can. Got it?" said Hiccup, back to his usual leader self.

"What tunnels?" asked Fishlegs, as usual intrigued by every little detail.

"There's a massive tunnel network through the mountain from some other civilization that lived here. I happen to know most of them, and I can find my way around well. So just follow me, and don't branch off! You will get lost very quickly," explained Hiccup quickly, before running off toward the tunnel entrance.

They ran through the tunnels, following Hiccup. They kept going, but they were in the tunnels for a long time. Hiccup cursed.

"Loki take me, I think we took a wrong turn. I have no idea where I am," said Hiccup dejectedly.

"Well, we'll just keep pushing. This tunnel has to lead somewhere, right?" said Jolt.

Hiccup nodded, and they pressed on. Soon, they came upon a massive cavern, almost as big as the Great Hall itself. But that wasn't what was weird about it. What was weird about it was that there were people milling around, houses and mess halls, almost like a small village.

Hiccup guessed that they were in the heart of the mountain, seeing as no other place on the island could have a cave this big.

Someone saw them enter the space, and soon enough, a dozen or so warriors surrounded the group. They threw their hands up in surrender, not knowing what was going on.

"State your name and your business," said one of the warriors.

"My name's Jolt Hawkson, this is Hiccup Haddock, those two are the twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston, that guy is Snotlout Jorgenson, that's Fishlegs Ingerman, and this is Astrid Hofferson," said Jolt.

The warrior's face grew grim and angry. "You say your name is Hawkson?"

"Yes," replied Jolt.

"Come with me. Oh the chief is going to love this," said the warrior, calling over his friends to shackle the group and lead them to the largest building.

"Well, out of the frying pan and into the fire, huh," said Jolt.

**As much as I would like to take credit for the title of this chapter, I'm afraid that the credit has to go the J.R.R. Tolkien's the Hobbit. This was the name of one of the chapters, and it happened to fit the idea that I wanted. Don't forget to review. **


	22. The People Beneath

Chapter 22: The People Beneath

The group was led to the large building, which was grandly built. It was a solid building, almost looking like it was carved from the very rock that made up the cave. It was quite spacious, and it was rather homey. For some reason, Jolt had a feeling that he had been here before, like there was some underlying memory that he had of the place. He couldn't shake it.

They were greeted by a man who looked also vaguely familiar to Jolt. He was tall, about six foot three, with brown eyes and wild black hair. He was heavily built, much like Stoick, and carried himself with the air of a leader who was years of experience under his, rather large, belt.

"Now, which one of you is the Hawkson?" asked the man.

"That would be me sir," said Jolt rather cautiously.

"And what would be your full name?"

"Jolt. Jolt Hawkson."

What the man did next shocked Jolt to the core. He ran up and hugged Jolt.

"Jolt? Old Kyle's son. You've grown so much. Last time I saw you you were naught but a baby," said the man, laughing.

"And...who are you?" asked Jolt, clearly confused.

"Ah yes, forgive me, you wouldn't remember me would you, and I'm sure your father never told you about me. I'm your uncle, uncle Fowler Hawkson. Your old man was my younger brother."

Jolt just stood there in shock. He had an uncle? His father had always told him that he was an only child. Why would he keep such a thing hidden?

"You look confused. I'll explain. You see, you were born on Berk. It used to be our home base before we moved to Walria Island. I never followed in my brother's footsteps to become a trader, so I settled down in Berk, and became second in command to Stoick. I also happened to be best friends with a man named Alvin, whom I'm sure you know. He used to be a respectable man, a fierce warrior and a good friend. But he had ideas, ideas about conquest and wars that went against our beliefs. He grew to fed up that he hatched a plot to assassinate Stoick, and being Alvin's best friend, he roped me and several others into the idea. There was a rat in the group though, that ratted us out. We ended up being banished, and we were sent to this dismal island.

Alvin quickly took control of the Outcasts, bent on returning to Berk and taking control. A few others and I were some of the few who regretted our actions and tried to repent to Stoick, but he wouldn't see it. We discovered the network of tunnels in the island and quickly escaped into them, making a new life for ourselves. Alvin has no idea that we're alive, he just assumes we sailed away and never came back. We never gave him reason to believe otherwise. So we live here, in this city which we have called Elsvia, our saving grace."

Again, Jolt felt overwhelmed by this news. He had always wondered how Alvin had gotten himself banished. For what he did, he should have been killed, but Stoick had mercy on him apparently. And now his uncle was mixed up in all of this, it was all just so crazy.

"Now I want to hear your story, as I'm sure you have a purpose for being here," said Fowler.

Hiccup began his story, starting way back from that first dragon raid, all the way up to when Jolt came to Berk. Jolt took over from there, explaining how they had gotten their powers, and each of the teens provided a demonstration of what they could do for the Elsvians. They were impressed, both with their powers but also just with the simple fact that they had trained dragons.

"I would have never guessed that Hiccup would ever become anything. When he was born, he was a runt, a tiny baby, barely alive. I never even believed that you would live past the age of two, but well, here you are. And a legend at that. And Jolt, you really made something of yourself. Can I see those wings of yours?" asked Fowler, equally amazed at the Berk teens' story as Jolt had been about the Elsvians. It was a lot to take in all at once, for anyone.

Jolt gestured for everyone to stand aside, and he released the wings, letting them run out to their full length.

"It was Hiccup's design, but I added the scale plates here. It allows me to fly super fast and for longer distances. It's the only way I was able to get here and free the teens and the dragons," said Jolt by way of explanation. He pulled the wings back in, tightly securing them.

"Well, it seems we have similar motives. We Elsvians have no love for Alvin, and we've wanted to take him down for years, but we lacked the resources. Now, with your knowledge of dragons, you could train some for us, and together we could take out Alvin and his son, rid the earth of their evil presences. Are we in agreement?" asked Fowler.

The teens conferred and agreed to the pact. The Elsvians could help them get rid of the threat of Alvin once and for all. It was too tempting to pass up.

They started by rounding up a few wild dragons from outside and brought them into Elsvia. They brought in their own dragons to help as well, and because they didn't want them to be attacked by Alvin's warriors.

The teens began to train the dragons, matching up an every Elsvian with a dragon. There was a good thirty warriors, and they all got their own dragons, all trained properly. The dragons all bonded to their riders quite well.

"You know Hiccup, this may just work," said Fowler, petting his Monstrous Nightmare Firestorm.

"Alright, we need a plan. We have dragons, and we have the warriors, so all we need is a strategy. Hiccup?" said Jolt, gesturing to Hiccup. He was always best with strategies, so he was usually referred to when the gang needed plans.

"I have a plan. I will discuss it with Fowler, but I'm fairly sure he'll agree to it. It's a little desperate, and Jolt, you may want to practice with those wings. We may have need of them," said Hiccup.

Jolt smiled. "With pleasure," he said before running and letting the wings out and coasting up to the roof. The ceiling of the cavern was pretty high, and the roofs of the buildings provided the perfect landing points for him. He leapt from the roof of the main building, wings extended. To gain momentum, he closed the wings up, falling to the ground. Just before he hit the ground, he opened them again, and the lift that he got gave him some extra speed and height.

_You know, if you turn the wings in when you're making a turn, you can also get some extra speed,_ Jolt heard Spark say from down below.

"Thanks. You want to join me up here? I could use a few pointers," said Jolt.

Spark agreed and flew up next to Jolt, who stood poised on a roof on the opposite end of the cavern. They took off together, with Spark giving a few pointers.

Jolt discovered that if he quickly closed the wings and opened them again, he could get a small flapping motion which allowed him to get some speed and air, although it took an intense amount of energy. Spark provided a good number of insightful tips, and before long, Jolt was flying around with the wings like he had been born doing it.

Hiccup saw Jolt using the wings masterfully and smiled. His plan just might work, but they would all have to work together to pull it off. It was risky, he admitted that, but if it worked they would be rid of Alvin forever.

Fowler gathered everyone into the main building, the Elsvian equivalent of the Great Hall. Once all the Elsvians were gathered. Fowler addressed the crowd.

"Fellow Elsvians! Too long have we lived in fear of Alvin and his kin. Today is a new day! Today we strike back and repent for our past actions! Today we live!" he shouted, and the Elsvians repeated what he said with vigor. They were pumped, ready to go, eager to reclaim their stolen lives. With they new pact with the dragons, they now had a chance to redeem themselves for their past transgressions. It was a new day, a new reality, and they were ready.

"My nephew, Jolt, and his friends have brought us to this peace with the dragons. They are now our friends and companions, and together we will defeat Alvin's villainy! Hiccup, would you like to outline the plan?" said Fowler.

Hiccup nodded and began to explain the plan that he had formulated. Everyone's eyes widened at what he said. This plan was crazy, ridiculous almost, but it could work.

"That's a suicide mission! There's no way that anyone will survive that plan!" yelled an Elsvian from the back.

"Yes it will, what with the dragons helping. We need to trust the dragons, or we _will_ all be suffering a chronic case of death pretty soon. The plan will work, but I'll need your full help and support," said Hiccup.

"We're with you Hiccup, all the way," said Fowler, and everyone agreed. Fowler was about to say more when a man rushed up through the crowd and whispered something to Fowler. His face grew cloudy, angry almost.

"Yes, bring him here. His information may yet be useful to us," said Fowler with a gruff and barely contained voice.

The man disappeared in the crowd, only to reappear a minute later hauling an old man in chains. A very familiar, grumpy old man.

"Mildew?" asked Jolt, incredulous. "What on the gods' earth are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question, boy," said Mildew, sneering at the teen.

"Chief, this man was found discussing information about Berk and these teens to Alvin. I believe that you know each other," said the man, gesturing to Mildew and then to the teens.

"You sold us out Mildew? Why? What could you have to gain?" asked Hiccup, very confused.

"These dragons have been nothing but pests, and all of you have all gone loopy, possessed by some god to destroy us all. I wanted you and those dragons gone, but none would hear me out, so joined forces with Alvin. He sees my side of things, even if he did train dragons. But he treats them right, like nothing more than the animals that they are, useful only for war. You idiots think that dragons have emotions and thought. Ha! You're wrong. They're nothing more than mindless beasts," said Mildew, before strangely passing out.

When he slumped over, everyone saw a Nadder quill stuck right at the base of his spine. Astrid stood with her arm outstretched, fuming.

"Thank you Astrid. If you weren't going to do it than I was," said Hiccup, before realizing that his arm was on fire. When he looked over to all of the other teens, he saw that their powers had gone haywire too, reacting to their emotions which were running wild.

"You guys do have an antidote to Nadder poison, right?" asked Jolt.

"Of course. Butcher, please take Mildew to the healer please. Tell her he was struck by a Nadder quill," said Fowler, talking to a tall and thin dark haired man.

"As if she couldn't tell already," laughed the man named Butcher before dragging Mildew onto the back of his Changewing.

"Well, that's good that he's gone, but now Alvin, and more importantly Millicent knows what we can all do, which means he knows our strengths and weaknesses. The plan will still work, but now we'll really need everyone's help to pull this off. Are you with me?" asked Hiccup, and he got an enthusiastic yes from the crowd. "Good, now you all have your assignments, so let's get moving people. We only have a day before the plan goes into effect."

Everyone shuffled off to their jobs, leaving Fowler, the teens, and their dragons. The teens and the dragons all moved off to practice their powers, but Hiccup held Jolt back.

"You still have your Maelstrom Maker, right?" asked Hiccup.

"Yup, I've got it safe and sound in its case right here. Why?" said Jolt.

"Make sure you use it at the right time. Don't waste it. It could be useful."

"Why not make more?" asked Jolt.

"Too risky, that and the things are so powerful and fragile that if one were to go off in someone's pocket, there would be nothing left to bury. No, just keep yours, and use it wisely," said Hiccup.

"You got it boss."

The teens moved off to practice their powers, and Jolt was nearly bouncing up and down with anticipation. When the plan went into effect, all Hel was going to break loose, and he was ready for when it would.


	23. The Fight For Freedom

Chapter 23: The Fight for Freedom

Millicent was beginning to get fed up. That stupid Jolt was hiding somewhere, he knew it, but he couldn't sense him out. He was growing more powerful, more powerful than he should be, but Millicent had his own skills. His dragon, the dark skrill that he named Plague, had taught him many skills, including magic. The pair had been able to gleen many secrets from that stupid queen dragon's mind who had managed to get her killed. Millicent wasn't so stupid, he was clever, and he had a plan, but he needed that pesky Lightning Rider out of the picture, and he needed Hiccup.

Hiccup had the key, the one trick that he could never learn, how to truly train a dragon. Millicent could force the dragons to do his will, but the only dragon that was ever truly loyal to him was Plague, and even then the dragon still either disobeyed him or tried to use him. He needed that boy.

Millicent saw a flash in the night sky, just a few stars winking out and then coming back into existence, evidence that something, or someone was flying above him. The being flew back and forth over him circling like a hawk after a kill.

Millicent, tired of waiting, attempted to blast the being with lightning, but the being deflected the blast. Millicent instantly knew who it was.

"Speak of the devil," he said, muttering under his breath. "Come down here and fight me, Lightning Rider, you coward!"

Jolt, high above, heard the challenge and smiled. The plan was working perfectly. He tucked the wings in, plummeting toward the earth. It was thrilling, but he had to pull up or he'd crash land. He extended the wings just before the ground, landing hard and ending up on one knee, head down, with the hood of his cloak over his head. He stood up and tucked the wings in, smiling from under the cloak, his lightning blue eyes shining through the darkness.

"Sure, why not? Let's dance!" Jolt shouted out, grabbing his staff out from its sheath on his back and blasting Millicent backward. Millicent landed with a thud on the wall, and was slow to get up, but when he did, he unleashed his fury on Jolt, sending a dark lightning bolt at him.

Jolt was blasted back, but he didn't have a wall to land against. He was on the edge of a cliff, and he only just managed to grab on to the edge, his staff in his other hand.

"You know, this is just too easy, _Lighting Rider_. I was expecting a challenge, and you give me this," said Millicent with distaste. "You are a disgrace to your ancestor."

Jolt just smiled. "That's what you think," he said before letting go of the cliff and falling. Millicent had forgotten all about the wings, and thought that he had fallen to his death, but when he looked down, that blasted Lightning Rider had brought them out again and was flying back up to the cliff.

"You can't kill me Millicent. I know too many tricks," said Jolt.

"That's what you think," said Millicent before closing his eyes and starting to chant. The words were in some strange arcane language, and when he was done, a yellow light shot from his hands and flew toward Jolt. Jolt put up his staff in defense, but it didn't block the power that surged through him. Jolt fell to the ground, suddenly in agony, screaming but unable to move anything. He was paralyzed, with nothing for him to do about it.

"Again, this is just too easy. I'll enjoy killing you," said Millicent. He brought out his sword, and was about to bring it down on his neck, when Jolt rolled out of the way. Millicent nearly fell over with surprise. That spell should have lasted for several minutes, not several seconds. What was going on?

Jolt got up and faced off Millicent again. "How did you do that? That spell should have paralyzed you for several minutes!" yelled Millicent before noticing the bracelet that jolt wore on his right wrist. "An Antioch Jewel. So that's how. Where did you get that bracelet?" asked Millicent.

"It was my mothers, but she gave it to me when she died. What's the big deal?" asked Jolt, still on edge.

"It is a cursed object. It restricts you from realizing your full potential. You should take it off," said Millicent, trying to get him to remove the cursed thing. The Antioch Jewels were the only substance that could protect one against magic, and Jolt had one in his possession. It was the only way that he would have been able to ward off the attack.

"Why should I listen to you! You tried to kill me, multiple times now! It stays on, and there's nothing you can do about it now!" yelled Jolt, charging with Switchblade extended. Millicent brought out his sword and charged, parrying Jolt's strike. Lightning, both dark and light, flickered on both blades, and the air hummed with the electricity. A storm started to pick up, a vicious lightning storm that was wild enough to be made by Thor himself.

The two battled it out, oblivious to the storm raging around them, both harnessing the lightning to do their will. Neither side gave in, and they battled savagely, using their skills to the best of their abilities. Millicent couldn't use his magic, but he still had lightning, and that had its uses. The blades rang again and again, the noise filling the air.

Neither of the two noticed that they were airborne until Jolt looked down. His eyes widened as he saw that they were both standing on platforms made of pure lightning, hovering about 200 feet over the ground. He had no idea how it was possible, but they were floating, and Millicent was still stabbing at him.

Jolt parried another strike, trying to get a shot in edgeways, but every move he made was parried. Lightning wasn't helping either. He had a backup plan, but he didn't want to use that unless it was totally necessary. It would probably end with him getting killed.

As he was distracted in thought, Millicent got a shot in, and Jolt skidded across the lightning platform. Millicent ran over and pinned him to the ground.

"I'm going to kill you now, Lightning Rider. And you will die this time," said Millicent evilly.

Jolt thought that it was all over, but he spied the backup plan lying a few feet behind Millicent. The Maelstrom Maker. He knew that the inside was cracked open, but why had it not exploded? He investigated and found that the charge had gone out of the metal. It would need a jump start.

"You lose," whispered Jolt, who shot a bolt at the corner of the Maelstrom Maker, the one corner that was uncovered. The traditional blue sphere formed, but slowly, too slowly.

"What have you done?" asked Millicent, trying to find a way done, but his dragon was distracted in the battle below. Jolt just smiled and dove off of the platform just as the bomb exploded.

Jolt thought that he could make it out, but he was mistaken. The blast was huge, the biggest that he had ever created. The blast sent ripples of energy through the air, and Jolt couldn't get the wings out. He was thrown wildly through the air, flipping head over heels toward the ground below. He was lost, and he knew it.

He had one chance to get the wings open. He yanked the cords, and the wings responded, flying open, but the control strings broke, and he was stuck with the glider. He tried to get a safe landing, but he was going too fast. He collided with the ground and passed out, tangled in the wings.

Spark had seen his companion go down, and he tried to race over to save him, but he was locked in battle with Plague. The evil dragon was using all manners of black magic on him, but none had any lasting effects. Spark had seen, though, that a light had gone out of his eyes when the explosion had occurred, and Spark knew that Millicent was dead. The black dragon had lost the will to love, and Spark simply shoved him off of the cliff, and the dragon accepted death and did not fly away.

Spark raced to his friends side, and after checking that he was breathing, tried to untangle him from the wings, but he was very stuck. Hiccup ran over and tried to extricate him too, but nothing worked.

"We need to get him to Berk," said Hiccup. Spark nodded, and Hiccup got Jolt onto Spark's back and flew away.

Hiccup surveyed the damage of the battle. Many Elsvians and Outcasts alike were dead, but they had won. Hiccup himself had slain Alvin. The deed was done, and Hiccup felt horrible about killing him, but he knew that it was necessary.

The plan had been a direct assault by the Elsvians so that Hiccup could finish off Alvin and Jolt could finish off Millicent. That had worked, to some extent. Many had died, but they had won.

"Well Hiccup, I think discussions will be made soon about a treaty between us and Berk, as well as the remaining Outcasts. Be sure to contact me when you decide to get a treaty together," said Fowler.

"I will, thank you, but now I need to go. Jolt is hurt." And with that, Hiccup hopped on the night fury and flew as fast as he could toward Berk.

When he landed, he saw Gobber hard at work prying the mangled wings off of Jolt, who was now conscious and struggling.

"Hold still would you? You're not going to get out of this thing if you keep struggling like that," said Gobber. "Oh, finally Hiccup. Can you help me get this thing off of him?"

"Um, let me just...it was right here...there is it!" said Hiccup, who pulled a hidden lever and made the wings pop off of the pack. Detangling Jolt from the pieces was easy, and before long, he was free.

"We won," said Jolt.

"Yeah, we did."

"It's all over now, isn't it."

"Yeah, but I'm sure there'll be more adventure out there for us," said Hiccup.

Jolt smiled. He would be ready for when it hit.

**And there it is! The story is done! Thanks for keeping with me my faithful readers. Be sure to check out my other story The Inventor. **


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